Women's Basketball | 2/28/2018 2:08:00 PM

Lady Braves Host PVAMU Thursday, TSU Saturday to Conclude Regular Season

Prairie View A&M: Game Notes | Live Stats | Radio | Video
Texas Southern: Game Notes | Live Stats | Radio | Video

LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University women's basketball program concludes the regular season this week as the Lady Braves host Prairie View A&M on Thursday and Texas Southern on Saturday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.

The team will recognize its senior class of Alexus Freeman, Tia Sanders, Miracle Rushing, and Dejah Joshua in a ceremony on Saturday.
 
Freeman puts up 15.0 points a game, while Sanders is not far behind at 14.7 points. Rushing leads the team on the glass with 231 rebounds (8.9 rpg). The Lady Brave defense is anchored by Freeman's 98 steals and junior guard Cloe Lane's 13 blocks.
 
Alcorn enters its final two games of the regular season shooting 649-1726 (37.6 percent) from the field, including 160-525 (30.5 percent) from beyond the arc, and 283-482 (58.7 percent) at the free-throw line. The Lady Braves score 64.5 points (-5.3) with 37.5 rebounds (-4.5), 12.4 assists, 20.0 turnovers, 11.4 steals, and 2.0 blocks per contest.
 
Prairie View A&M | March 1 | 5:30 p.m.
 
The Lady Panthers (13-14, 11-5 SWAC) are currently fourth in the conference standings with the two games left on the schedule. Prairie View has won five straight and is coming off an 84-73 win over Alabama A&M.
 
Shala Dobbins is averaging 21.8 points and has 95 assists to lead the team in both categories. Dominique Newman is also in double figures with 10.7 points. Talisha Presley has 33 threes, but Newman and Jordyn Penniman are right behind her with 29 apiece. Jyrah Cobb owns 169 boards (7.5 rpg) and La'Neique Nealey 141 (7.1 rpg) to lead PVAMU on the glass.
 
Prairie View has made 644-1699 (37.9 percent) of its shots from the field, 109-433 (25.2 percent) from distance, and 508-709 (71.7 percent) from the line. The team nets 70.6 points (-0.3) with 38.8 rebounds (-5.9), 12.1 assists, 17.5 turnovers, 9.5 steals, and 3.8 blocks.
 
The Lady Panthers sit atop the league rankings in free-throw percentage and are second in scoring offense and turnover margin (+3.67).
 
Alcorn took the first meeting 73-72 at PVMU on Jan. 1 to open conference play. Freeman tied the game late with a three in the corner, then stole the ball from Dobbins and was sent to the line with one second on the clock. Her 1-for-2 effort at the charity stripe helped Alcorn start league play 1-0 for the first time since 2011-12. Freeman finished with 23 points, two rebounds, five assists, and five steals.
 
The Lady Braves are looking to sweep the regular season series for the first time since 2014-15. The teams have split the series the past two seasons.
 
Texas Southern | March 3 | 3 p.m.
 
The Lady Tigers (17-10, 12-4 SWAC) are tied with Grambling State for second in the standings and have won two in a row. TSU defeated Alabama State 76-48 on Monday as Joyce Kennerson scored a game-high 28 points. With the win, the team clinched a top-four finish in the regular season.
 
Kennerson puts up 24.7 points and Kaitlyn Palmer adds 13.9 points to pace the offense. The pair have a combined 132 treys on the season. Camille Mills is the top rebounder with 159 boards, followed by Breasia McElrath at 120. Defensively, Mills owns 60 steals and Taylor Robinson has 23 blocks.
 
TSU is shooting 607-1483 (40.9 percent) from the floor, 141-422 (33.4 percent) from long-range, and 379-549 (69.0 percent) at the stripe. The team averages 64.2 points (+6.3) with 39.0 rebounds (+4.0), 10.6 assists, 18.7 turnovers, 8.6 steals, and 4.0 blocks per outing.
 
Texas Southern ranks first in the SWAC in scoring defense (57.9 ppg), scoring margin, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense (35.7), three-point field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage defense (26.0), rebounding defense (35.0 rpg), and blocked shots.
 
Alcorn played at TSU on Jan. 3, a meeting that saw the Lady Tigers cruise to a 91-57 final as the hosts shot over 57 percent on the night. Sanders scored 15 and Freeman 10 to lead the Lady Braves in the loss.
 
TSU has now taken the past 11 meetings in the all-time series. Alcorn's last win came during the 2011-12 season and the Lady Braves will be looking to split the regular season.
 
NOTES
 
- The loss to Southern last Saturday marked the first time since Jan. 31, 2015 that the Lady Braves have fallen to the Lady Jags on their home court.
 
- SU swets the regular season series for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
 
- Sanders has 65 threes on the season to rank third on the program's single-season record list. The Pensacola, Fla. native needs two more to tie for second and four more to tie with Kierra Levy's mark of 69, set in 2002-03.
 
- Through games played on Feb. 25, Freeman ranks sixth in the nation in steals per game (3.63) and seventh in steals (98). She leads the conference and is 27th nationally in field goal attempts (463).
 
- The Lady Braves are fourth in the nation in three-point field goal defense (26.5 percent), eighth in turnovers forced (22.56 per game), 15th in steals per game (11.4), and 17th in steals (309).
 
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