JSU Gets Past Lady Braves with Big Opening Half

JACKSON, Miss. – An evenly played second half wasn't enough for the Alcorn State University women's basketball program to overcome the first as it fell 88-66 to Jackson State Saturday at the Williams Assembly Center.
 
Alcorn (2-13, 1-2 SWAC) outscored JSU (5-8, 1-2 SWAC) 24-22 in the fourth quarter. However, the Tigers built a 42-21 lead at the intermission.
 
JSU shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, while the Lady Braves shot 36.0 percent. The Tigers also forced 18 turnovers through two quarters and 28 in the game.
 
Senior De'Asia Brown and junior Jada Hargrove notched 14 points apiece. It matched a season-high for Hargrove who also dished out a career-high seven assists.
 
Sophomore Kirdis Clark caught fire in the fourth quarter and poured in a career-high 13 points to go along with seven rebounds which matched a career-best. Clark scored 11 of her points in the fourth.
 
The Tigers were led by Marniesha Hamer's 20 points and 10 rebounds. Kaisah Lucky also reached double-figures with 10 points and seven assists.
 
The Lady Braves trailed 8-2 early when Hargrove and Brown each knocked down jumpers to make it an 8-6 game. Though, the Tigers answered with a 9-0 run to take a 17-6 advantage. Despite a three-pointer at the buzzer by Brown, Alcorn was down 21-12 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Sophomore Jamaysha Bernard scored the first bucket of the second quarter, but JSU responded with a 7-0 spurt to lead 28-14. The Tigers extended their edge to 40-19 late in the quarter and carried a 42-21 lead into the half.
 
The Lady Braves scored the first two buckets in the second half on a lay-up by freshman Bria Broughton and a jumper by Hargrove. Alcorn further chipped into the deficit, 44-29, after a pull-up jumper by Clark. It wasn't until a 7-0 run by the Tigers late in the third which pushed their lead up to 66-39.
 
Alcorn fought until the end and put together a strong fourth quarter. It was highlighted by Clark's trio of three-pointers. The Lady Braves were 10-for-17 (.588) in the final quarter including 7-for-12 (.583) from long-range.
 
The Lady Braves will remain on the road Monday when they take on Grambling State at 5:30 p.m. at the Hobdy Assembly Center.
 
NOTES
- The Lady Braves shot a season-high .551 from the field. They netted a season-high 27 made field goals.
 
- Alcorn's 66 points were the second-most this season behind a 67-point effort against Fisk University.
 
- Brown has scored in double-figures in all three conference games. She tallied her 13th career double-figure outing and ninth this year. She was 5-for-10 from the floor.
 
- Hargrove's 14 points matched her season-best set against Rust College. She was three points shy of her career-high. Hargrove's seven assists topped her previous high of six set twice in her career. It was her 12th career double-figure scoring game and seventh this year. Coincidentally, she did it in just 24 minutes which were a season-low.
 
- Clark broke her previous career-high of 11 points set against Southeastern Louisiana. It was her second straight double-figure scoring game and third this year. Clark became the second Lady Brave to drill three three-pointers in a game this year.
 
- Alcorn continued to play without starting post-player Toddriana Isler due to injury. Isler averages 8.8 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Courtney G. Pruitt
On the third quarter
"We were playing well, but we had to make a sub after Kirdis had an issue with her eye. After the sub, JSU went on a run. Still, we played an excellent third quarter. We played tough and played hard. We just have to continue to fight. We still don't have Toddriana Isler which is really hurting us, and when we came out in the first quarter we couldn't find ourselves. We came out flat. We made some adjustments in the second half, but unfortunately we can't have that first half back. We have to now prepare for Grambling State."
 
On the offense
"We shot it great. That was the best we shot it all season. The turnovers are the problem. We had 18 turnovers at halftime and we couldn't get the ball to the middle of the floor and attack the press. We'd been working on in practice the last three days, but we didn't execute the game plan. I think that's what's most frustrating, we didn't follow the game plan. We didn't take care of the ball and we have to be more disciplined."
 
On the free throw shooting
"It's all mental. Before we left for Jackson State today, we were in our gym shooting nothing but free throws. We have to be mentally tougher and focused at the line."
 
On knocking down shots in the fourth
"We got hot in the fourth, but it was too little too late. We didn't execute our press-break in the first half and gave up way too many second chance points. I'm disappointed because I know we're capable of doing a lot better. We're going to go back into the lab tomorrow and get back to work. We have a tough Grambling team on the road Monday and we have to be able to take care of business."
 
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