Women's Basketball | 12/14/2019 10:00:00 AM

Lady Braves Finish Non-Conference Home Slate With UAB

Alcorn Game Notes | Live Stats 
 
LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University women's basketball program will host its final non-conference home game of the year on Sunday afternoon against the UAB Blazers at 2 p.m.

The Lady Braves (4-6) have kept opposing offenses up at night and force the opponent to take care of the basketball if they intend to win. Alcorn is the best team in the NCAA with 158 steals, 15.8 steals per game and an average of 31.20 turnovers forced per contest. The girls from Lorman boast the SWAC's top marks in assists (116), rebounds (359), turnover margin (9.20) and scoring defense (64.3) as well.

Senior Jada Hargrove has continued her ascent into stardom, ranking third in the country with a 96.2 free-throw percentage (25-of-26), leads the conference in points scored (120), is top-20 nationally in steals (28) and has dished out the second-most assists in the SWAC at 26.

Reigning SWAC Player of the Week LaRae Rascoe has been an all-around weapon for Coach Pruitt's club, placing just outside the top-25 in steals with 26, knocking down a team-high 12 triples, has converted 39.8 percent of her shots from the floor and has averaged 11.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per night.

Sophomore Diamond Hall has stepped up on the defensive side of the ball this season, slotting in as the SWAC's fifth-best stealer with 22 to go along with averaging the eight-best steals per game average at 2.20.

UAB (5-3) just saw its four-game winning streak snapped in its last outing, dropping a 77-52 decision to Memphis on December 8. Prior to that defeat, the Blazers had rattled off consecutive victories over Alabama-Huntsville, Samford, McNeese and Auburn.

The green and gold are among the nation's elite in three-point shooting, falling inside the top-15 in triples made per game (9.9) and three-point percentage (39.1). UAB is also top-25 in defensive rebounds per contest (30.0) while topping Conference USA in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.09), assists per game (15.8), field-goal percentage (44.2) and three-pointers made (79).

The University of Alabama at Birmingham boasts two preseason all-conference selections in Miyah Barnes and Rachael Childress. Barnes has been a deep ball assassin in 2019-20, hitting on 51.4 percent of her shots behind the arc and has been just as accurate from the free-throw line as she's made 88.9 percent of her freebies. Barnes also fronts the conference with 4.8 assists a game. Childress is the biggest scoring threat for the Blazers, draining 3.38 triples a night while averaging 16.3 points per contest.

NOTES
- Alcorn will square off against UAB for the fifth time in program history on Sunday afternoon as the Lady Braves and Blazers complete a home-and-home series. UAB took last season's matchup in Birmingham, 80-53.

- After defeating Tennessee State (11/21) and Florida A&M (12/8) the Lady Braves have now defeated two non-conference division one foes in the same season for the first time since 2011-12, when the purple and gold beat Southeastern Louisiana plus Northwestern State in back-to-back contests. Alcorn has now matched its win total from last year in 20 fewer games.

- LaRae Rascoe was named SWAC Player of the Week on December 12, becoming the first Lady Brave to win the award since Alexus Freeman on January 23, 2018. She earned the accolade after having a monster game versus Florida A&M (12/8), coming off the bench to score a season-high 19 points in only 22 minutes of action while draining 7-of-12 (.583) from the floor. The guard also made a season-best five free throws to go along with a rebound, steal and an assist in the victory.

- Rascoe continues to be a huge offseason acquisition for the Lady Braves, notching eight double-digit scoring nights in ten tries. She is averaging 11.7 points a contest while tallying 26 steals and fronting the squad with 12 three-pointers since transferring over from Ancilla College.

- Jada Hargrove remains the go-to scorer and overall leader of this Lady Braves squad, notching seven double-figure scoring performances and tops the club at 12.0 points per night. Hargrove holds the team lead at 26 assists, has swiped a club-best 28 steals through ten games and is tied for the most rebounds with 39.

- Aysha Kirkland sits atop the rebounding leaderboard along with Hargrove at 39 boards and averages 3.9 per game.

- Diamond Hall and Jamaysha Bernard both top the Lady Braves in blocks as they've knocked away four apiece.

- 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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