PVAMU Pulls Away in Second Half to Split Regular Season

LORMAN, Miss. – After a close first half, Prairie View A&M took over in the second as the Alcorn State University women's basketball program fell 96-76 Thursday night at the Davey L. Whitney Complex. The Lady Braves fall to 11-17 overall with a 7-10 mark in league play, while the Lady Panthers improve to 14-14, 12-5 SWAC.
 
With the loss, the teams split the regular season series for the third consecutive season.
 
Senior guard Alexus Freeman made 6-21 (28.6 percent) from the field, 1-4 (25.0 percent) from long-range, and 5-6 (83.3 percent) at the charity stripe to finish with a team-high 18 points. Junior guard Cloe Lane netted 12 points off the bench, while Tia Sanders, Jada Hargrove, and De'Asia Brown contributed 10 points each. Senior forward Miracle Rushing led the Lady Braves on the glass with nine boards.
 
Alcorn shot 27-69 (39.1 percent) from the floor, including 6-21(28.6 percent) from beyond the arc, and 16-26 (61.5 percent) at the free-throw line.
 
Danasia Fennie hit a long jumper to open the scoring, but Talisha Presley answered with a shot from distance. A Sanders jumper and a pair of Brown free-throws then put Alcorn back in control 6-3. After a Dominique Newman long ball knotted the score at 8-8, the teams traded the lead before a Freeman three and a Ugochinyere Nwarie score gave the Lady Braves a 14-11 edge at the 4:44 media timeout. A 2-2 effort at the line by Shala Dobbins made it a one-point game, but Nwarie converted 1-2 shots in response. Dobbins then made another pair of freebies to tie the game at 15-15 with just over three to play in the first. The teams continued to go back-and-forth before a 2-2 effort by Newman at the line gave the Lady Panthers a 23-21 advantage heading into the second.
 
Lane knocked down a trey at the top of the key to open the second 10 minutes of action. Fennie continued her hot shooting at the line as she made a pair to pull within 28-26. After Freeman sank both of freebies to tie the game again at 30-30, the Lady Panthers took over with an 8-2 swing. Alcorn battled back, however, as Freeman netted 12 points in the quarter to trim the visitor lead to 47-44 at the break.
 
Hargrove started off the second half with a three-pointer that tied the game yet again, but PVAMU answered in kind. Freeman went 1-on-2 and posted a layup to close the gap 50-49 with 6:22 to play in the third, but the Lady Panthers again pulled away with five unanswered. Lane ended the drought with a three from the left side, but PVAMU made it an 11-point lead with another eight straight. Sanders finally got a long-range shot to fall and Jhyrah Cobb scored a basket as Alcorn trailed 65-55 heading into the final period.
 
An early 5-0 run allowed the Lady Panthers to jump out to 70-56 with 8:15 on the clock. Lane scored a layup for Alcorn's first points in the fourth before six unanswered made it 76-58. Sanders then knocked down her second three of the night, but Nealey scored an old-fashioned three in response. PVAMU continued to pull away and Alcorn could not come up with an answer. The Lady Panthers outscored the Lady Braves 31-21 in the last 10 minutes to secure the victory.
 
The Lady Braves scored more points off the bench (31-21) and committed fewer turnovers (19-19). Both teams totaled 10 fast-break points. The game featured eight ties and seven lead changes.
 
Alcorn closes out the regular season Saturday as the Lady Braves host Texas Southern in a 3 p.m. contest. The game marks senior day and the team will recognize Freeman, Sanders, Rushing, and Dejah Joshua.
 
NOTES
 
- Fennie had a perfect shooting night as she made her only shot from the field and sank all four of her charity shots. The freshman from Fort Myers, Fla. added a rebound with a season-high two assists. She also led the team with a pair of blocks, tying her season mark.
 
- Brown was also a perfect 4-4 at the line. The junior out of Chesapeake, Va. Shot 3-9 from the floor and added a rebound and two assists to her totals.
 
- Sanders finished 2-9 from beyond the arc and now has 67 threes on the season to tie for second on the program's single-season record list. The Pensacola, Fla. native needs two more to tie the record mark of 69, set by Kierra Levy in 2002-03.
 
- PVAMU's 33 made free-throws are the most by a conference opponent this season. The Lady Panthers' 96 points and 53.8 percent shooting from distance are also season highs by an opponent.
 
Quoting Head Coach Courtney. G. Pruitt
On how the game went
 
"They shot 42 free-throws. That really hurts you when a team shoots that many free-throws in a game. I wish we could have gone to the line that many times compared to our 20-something. Other than that, we got out-rebounded and we couldn't finish the game."
 
On Tia Sanders
 
"She was having a tough shooting night. She's been struggling quite a bit, but she was able to get going and at least put some points up on the board."
 
On getting five players in double figures
 
"We had three of our starters in Jada, Alexus, and Tia. And then we had Cloe and De'Asia coming off the bench, so that's very good, but despite that we still did not get the win."
 
On Brown's effort off the bench
 
"We've been talking about our bench and have been looking for Cloe and De'Asia to do great things, which they both did tonight and we're very proud of them."
 
#FearTheBrave