Women's Basketball | 11/25/2019 11:09:00 AM

Alcorn Looks To Make It Three Straight Against Tougaloo

Alcorn Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Audio
 
LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University women's basketball program is looking to earn its third consecutive victory at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday night when it hosts the Lady Bulldogs of Tougaloo College.

The Lady Braves (2-4) are a nationally elite team at creating turnovers, placing second in turnovers forced (27.50), third in steals (84) and eighth in steals per game (14.0). On the conference-level, Alcorn ranks first in field-goal percentage defense (37.9) and second in scoring defense (65.0).

The purple and gold as a unit have also taken care of business in terms of rebounding (233) and assists (63), ranking first and second in the SWAC, respectively.

Coach Pruitt's girls are starting to climb the national statistic rankings as three separate Lady Braves rank inside the top-60 for various categories.

Senior Jada Hargrove has been money at the free-throw line, making 15-of-16 shots for a 93.8 percentage, top-20 in the NCAA.

Junior LaRae Rascoe is top-25 for total steals at 16 and sixth in the country for steals per game with 2.67.

Sophomore Diamond Hall is the third player that meets the top-60 cutline, placing 58th for steals per contest at 2.33.

The team's top rebounder (redshirt junior Aysha Kirkland) and blocker (junior Jamaysha Bernard) both sit seventh in the SWAC for their roles as Kirkland has pulled down 28 rebounds while Bernard has rejected three blocks.

"Good to be back home to play after getting a much needed win on the road," said head coach Courtney G. Pruitt. "We have to make sure we're ready to play against a scrappy Tougaloo team who picked up two road wins this weekend."

Tougaloo College (3-5) has two wins over Jarvis Christian College and a forfeit victory over Paul Quinn on its resume so far in the young season.

The Lady Bulldogs are one of the top-30 best squads in the NAIA's Division I for offensive rebounds per game (16.57), steals (78), steals per game (11.14) and three-point field-goal percentage (.267).

The red and blue have a do-it-all forward in senior Karry Callahan. Callahan is inside the NAIA's top-50 in steals (17), assists (27) and steals per game (2.43) so the Lady Braves will need to be aware of where #3 is on the court at all times.

Tuesday's game can be heard on the radio on 91.7 FM or wprl.org with Charles Edmond on the call.

NOTES
- Alcorn currently holds a 6-4 lead in the all-time series with Tougaloo College, winning its lone matchup under head coach Courtney Pruitt, 76-64 back in 2017-18. Prior to that meeting two seasons ago, the Lady Braves and Lady Bulldogs had not met on the hardwood since 1983-84. The purple and gold have won four straight in the series.

- The Lady Braves are 59-22 (.728) in program history when facing non-Division I opponents and currently sit at 6-2 under Coach Pruitt in such matchups.

- LaRae Rascoe continues to be a huge offseason acquisition for the Lady Braves, notching five double-digit scoring nights in six tries and has had three straight contests with ten or more. Rascoe is averaging 11 points a contest while tallying a team-best 16 steals since transferring over from Ancilla College.

- Jada Hargrove has remained hot, notching four double-figure scoring performances and topping the club at 11.5 points per night. Hargrove is now tied for team lead at 11 assists through six games.

- Aysha Kirkland fronts Alcorn in the rebounding department, pulling down 28 overall for a 4.7 per game average.

- Freshman Cayla Obillo has been a floor general in her first collegiate season, tying a team-high 11 assists to go along with grabbing 13 rebounds.

- Pruitt revamped her coaching staff for 2019-20 with the additions of Andre Payne and Mike Pittman. Payne last served as Mississippi Valley State's Men's Basketball Head Coach where he made four SWAC Tournaments and coached two All-SWAC performers. Pittman spent last season at Paul Quinn and led the Lady Tigers to the USCAA Final Four. Also on staff is student assistant De'Asia Brown. She led Alcorn in points per game (12.3) and three-pointers (38) last season.

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