LORMAN, Miss. – A lockdown defensive effort resulted in a thrilling 53-52 win for the Alcorn State University women's basketball program over Texas Southern to begin SWAC play Saturday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
Alcorn (2-11, 1-0 SWAC), which led for nearly the entire game, was clinging to a one-point lead with 23 seconds left. A pair of free throws by senior
De'Asia Brown increased it to 53-50, but TSU (4-8, 0-1 SWAC) quickly answered with a jumper with 12 seconds remaining.
The Tigers had a couple chances in the final 10 seconds. After they grabbed a steal in the back-court, a contested lay-up was rebounded by junior
Diamond Hall who then tried for a full-court pass that was intercepted. TSU's Marquia Turner raced down the court and put up a three-pointer with a hand in her face from about 30-feet out that was off the mark at the buzzer.
The Lady Braves held the Tigers to just a 19-for-61 (.311) shooting mark including 4-for-23 (.174) from long-range.
Brown netted a game-high 15 points including seven in the fourth quarter. Junior
Jada Hargrove finished with nine points and a career-high five steals in 39 minutes. Sophomore
Jamaysha Bernard tallied a career-high six points off the bench.
TSU garnered 10 points apiece from Turner, Catherine Okwilagwe and Richelle Velez.
The only time Alcorn trailed the entire game was on TSU's first bucket – a three-pointer by Velez. A pair of free throws by Bernard and a jumper by sophomore
Kirdis Clark put the Lady Braves up 7-3 midway through the first.
Alcorn opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run which included four points from Brown to lead 19-11. A three-pointer by Hargrove extended it to 24-13 with 2:53 to go. TSU scored the last basket of the half, but the Lady Braves carried a 28-20 lead into the intermission.
The Tigers slowly chipped away in the third. A 6-0 spurt got the deficit down to 31-29 at the 4:15 mark. The Lady Braves responded with jumpers by junior
Charisma Walker and sophomore
Aysha Kirkland, and were in front 37-33 heading into the fourth.
In the final period, TSU was again threatening when Brown drilled a big three-pointer to keep Alcorn ahead 49-44 with 2:57 remaining. A lay-up by Walker kept it a 51-46 with 56 seconds left.
The Tigers scored a lay-up from Okwilagwe with 45 seconds left to make it a three-point game, and after a defensive stop, Turner made a lay-up to make it 51-50 Alcorn with 23 ticks. Brown was fouled and made both free throws which led to the final sequence.
The Lady Braves will look to duplicate their performance Monday when they remain at home to host Prairie View A&M at 5:30 p.m.
NOTES
- For the second year in a row, Alcorn won its SWAC opener by one point after beating PVAMU 73-72 last year. It was also the team's second straight win over TSU after beating the Tigers 54-52 in the regular season finale last year.
- Alcorn improved to 2-0 in one possession games this year.
- TSU's 52 points were the fewest allowed by the Lady Braves in a game this season.
- Brown reached double-figures in scoring for the 11th time in her career and seventh time this season. She did a lot of damage from the free throw line where she was 6-for-7.
- Hargrove's five steals broke her previous best of four set three times. She's played at least 39 minutes six times this year and leads the SWAC in minutes per game.
- Walker entered the game ranked top-five in the league in defensive rebounding (4.7 drpg) and pulled down six. Junior
Toddriana Isler secured a team-high seven rebounds but left the game in the third quarter after an injury.
- The Lady Braves will look to start 2-0 in conference Monday for the first time since 2011-12.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Courtney G. Pruitt
Opening Statement
"Not the kind of game I like. I like to keep it steady rolling and maintain the lead. The girls wanted to make it interesting and keep it close. When Isler went out in the third quarter that really hurt us. She is one of our 'Big Three'. Her leadership and just her presence on the floor calms everyone down. Without her being there we knew we had to play some players who hadn't seen as much time. We still needed to finish it out and get the win at home. Like I told the girls, someone else had to step up."
On De'Asia Brown
"She did an excellent job of stepping up tonight. This is her senior season and we tell her all the time that she can get separation better than anybody on her team. She can decide whether or not we can score. Her teammates encouraged her, and she stepped up and made some key shots for us. She was one of the reasons we were successful in this ball game."
On Jada Hargrove
"Jada did a great job of running the show. She did an excellent job of facilitating and leading her teammates through her actions. She protected the ball and did a good job of getting De'Asia the ball when she needed it, which allowed them to work as a great 1-2 punch."
On being able to close it out
"I'm proud the girls for holding on. We had great bench production. Jamaysha had a break out night for us. She made layups and rebounded well. We need that to continue throughout these next 17 games."
#FearTheBrave
