Freeman Hits Late Jumper as Lady Braves Win on Senior Day; Alcorn at GSU Tuesday

SWAC Championships Bracket 

LORMAN, Miss. – A strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter allowed the Alcorn State University women's basketball team to fight back from an eight-point deficit and secure a 54-52 win over Texas Southern on Senior Day Saturday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Alexus Freeman stole the ball from TSU's (18-11, 13-5 SWAC) Joyce Kennerson and scored a fast-break layup to make it a 52-51 lead with 38 seconds left in the game. Kennerson made 1-2 at the stripe to tie the game and it would be Alcorn's ball with 28 seconds left. After calling a timeout to advance the ball, Freeman then hit a step-back jumper to give the Purple and Gold a 54-52 lead with 4.8 seconds. TSU then turned over the ball and Miracle Rushing dribbled out the last couple of seconds for the victory.
 
Alcorn's senior class led the Lady Braves (12-17, 8-10) in the win. Freeman shot 8-19 (42.1 percent) from the field, including 1-6 (16.7 percent) from deep, and 3-4 (75.0 percent) at the free-throw line to lead the team with 20 points. She added a rebound, three assists, and six steals. Rushing finished with nine points, five boards, and a pair of steals. Tia Sanders followed with seven points, four rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
 
The Lady Braves made 19-54 (35.2 percent) from the field, 3-21 (14.3 percent) from long-range, and 13-16 (81.3 percent) at the charity stripe.
 
TSU started off the scoring and Freeman found Danasia Fennie in the lane for the answer. After a Freeman jumper tied the game again at 4-4, the visitors took off of an 8-0 run that took the clock down to just under three minutes. Sanders and Fennie both converted a pair of freebies and TSU's Kaitlyn Palmer scored a basket as the Lady Tigers built a 14-8 advantage at the end of the first 10 minutes of play.
 
Alcorn closed the gap in the second as the team turned up the defensive pressure. A Breasia McElrath score put the guests up 19-12, but a Brown bucket ignited a 12-0 spurt by the Lady Braves. After Rushing went 1-2 at the line, Brianna Tolliver grabbed the miss and made the put-back to give the Lady Braves their first lead, 20-19 at the 4:30 mark. Ugochinyere Nwarie then hit a mid-range jumper and Rushing added a layup to cap off the run at 24-19. Taylor Robinson ended TSU's 5:45 drought with a basket at the 2:21 mark. Rushing then got another layup to fall and Palmer knocked down a three as Alcorn took a 26-24 lead into the locker room.
 
Kennerson made a trey at the top of the arc to start the second half, but Rushing sank both of her freebies to put the Lady Braves back on top. The teams continued to trade the lead with neither side able to find any separation as TSU took a 39-38 edge into the final 10 minutes.
 
The Lady Tigers opened the fourth with six unanswered before Freeman hit a three up top. TSU pushed its lead to 49-41 with 5:50 on the clock, but Cloe Lane connected from beyond the arc and Fennie grabbed a rebound with the put-back to pull to with 51-48. Freeman would drive to the lane and get the layup to fall to make it a 51-50 game with 1:10 remaining, setting up the final sequence.
 
Alcorn scored more points off turnovers (21-8), committed fewer turnovers (9-26), and grabbed more steals (13-0). The game featured six ties and 13 lead changes.
 
The Lady Braves enter the 2018 SWAC Women's Basketball Tournament as the No. 6 seed and will play a 6:30 p.m. opening-round game at No. 3 Grambling State Tuesday at the Frederick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.
 
NOTES
 
- With the win, Alcorn snapped TSU's 11-game winning streak in the series and splits the regular season with the Lady Tigers.
 
- Sanders made 1-11 from distance and now has 68 threes on the season to grab sole possession of second place on the program's single season record list. The Pensacola, Fla. native needs one more to tie the all-time mark of 69, set by Kierra Levy in 2002-03.
 
- TSU did not grab a steal in the contest, marking a season low by an opponent. The visitors also set season lows in free-throws made (4) and free-throw attempts (6).
 
- Kennerson, who is the league's league scorer and entered the game averaging 24.6 points, was held to just 13 points.
 
- The Lady Tigers took the first game of the season 91-57 in Houston on Jan. 3. It was the largest deficit in conference play this season.
 
- Lane tied her season high with two assists. She tallied that many in the team's home-opening win over LeMoyne-Owen College on Nov. 15.
 
- Fennie tied her season bests with two blocks and two steals.
 
Quoting Head Coach Courtney. G. Pruitt
On winning on Senior Day
 
"I'm very happy and very proud of the effort the girls played with tonight. With this being Senior Day, we wanted them to go out on top. Like I said, I couldn't be prouder of our senior Alexus Freeman. What a way for her to go out on her home floor for the last game."
 
On Freeman's play
 
"She likes the spotlight. She likes to have the ball in her hands, and that's the kind of player you need. When the clock is winding down and you want the ball in somebody's hands, I would pick her every time."
 
On the team's defensive effort
 
"We game-planned for it. You saw us switch a lot of defenses tonight. Another thing that we did was Johanna Lafayette we let big-for-big, which I don't think they were expecting that because you haven't seen much of Jo in those situations. But they stuck to the game plan and without #44 in the game, we were able to get great looks, the girls trusted our offense, and we also turned our defense into offense."
 
On Freeman taking over the game
 
"We talked about it. We had film session and shoot-around early this morning and we knew that Joyce was going to look for hers. We knew what Alexus had to do in order for us to win. We held Joyce well under her average in scoring and then Alexus came and did what she normally does, which is scoring the ball. But she also got her teammates involved. She hit them with some great post passes. She also played defense well and got some great steals, so it was an all-around game and she really played well."
 
Senior Day Notes
Freeman entered the game leading the Lady Braves in scoring this season with 15.1 points per game. She ranked sixth in the nation with 3.57 steals per game and eighth in total steals with 100 through games played on March 2. She earned SWAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and ALL-SWAC Second Team honors, was named SWAC player of the week on January 23, and was the 2016-17 SWAC Newcomer of the Year last season. In her time at Alcorn, Freeman has totaled included 757 points, 264 rebounds, 215 assists, and 175 steals. She is completing a bachelor's degree in recreation and was escorted by her mother Patricia Taylor, step-father Chris Jackson, sister Royshaunda Freeman, and brothers Roy Freeman and Galvin Holmes.
 
Sanders is second on the team in scoring at 14.3 points per game and was named the SWAC Player of the Week on November 11 as she led the Lady Braves with a career-high 29 points in an 84-77 overtime victory at Southeastern Louisiana to start the season. In her time at Alcorn, she has totaled 729 points, 183 rebounds, 117 assists, and 71 steals. She has made 68 three-pointers this season and needs two more to grab the program's single-season record. Sanders will graduate with a degree in biology and was escorted by her parents, Alan Sanders and Judith Johnson, as well as her brother Shane and sister Tempest.
 
Rushing is Alcorn's leader on the glass with 245 rebounds this season and she ranks second in the conference with 3.7 offensive boards per game. She has recorded 10 double-doubles in her career, including nine this season. On January 15 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, she scored a career-high 21 points with nine rebounds and made a key late basket to lead the Lady Braves past the Lady Lions, 80-77. Her career totals at Alcorn include 388 points, 444 rebounds, 65 assists, and 92 steals. A physical therapy major, Rushing was escorted by her mother Angela Dubose, brother James, and sisters Asia and Antanetta.
 
Dejah Joshua saw limited playing time in her career at Alcorn due to injury. The health and physical education major was escorted by teammates Freeman and Hargrove.
 
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