Women's Basketball | 2/21/2020 8:45:00 AM

Lady Braves Set For Huge Alabama Road Trip

Alcorn Game Notes | Live Stats (Alabama A&M) | Live Video (Alabama A&M) | Live Stats (Alabama State) | Live Video (Alabama State) | Live Audio (Both Games)
 
LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University women's basketball program continues its push for a SWAC Tournament berth this weekend as it looks to break away from the pack against Alabama A&M and Alabama State.

The Lady Braves (11-14, 7-6 SWAC) steals (363), steals per game (14.5) and turnovers forced (27.08) since November 26, 2019 and have not relinquished that crown since. The purple and gold also hold a top-20 ranking for turnover margin (5.68). Coach Pruitt's crew places inside the top-three in the SWAC for assists (307), free throw attempts (483), offensive rebounds per game (15.0), rebounds (904) and three-point field goal defense (29.2).

Senior Toddriana Isler is coming off her best performance of the 2019-20 season, contributing ten points and a career-high 13 rebounds in the win over UAPB for her first double-double of the year.

Junior Kirdis Clark has taken over the mantle as the Lady Braves best shooter during conference play, averaging a team-best 12.6 points per contest while making 44.9 percent of her shots and swiping 28 steals. Outside of the game versus Tougaloo, all of her 11 double-figure scoring performances on the campaign have come in SWAC play as well.

Junior LaRae Rascoe has been the team's most consistent volume scorer on the campaign, notching 17 double-digit scoring nights. Rascoe is averaging a team-high 12.0 points a contest (ninth in SWAC) while tallying a team-high 2.42 steals per game (top-45 in NCAA, third in SWAC) and 32 three-pointers (seventh in SWAC) as well as 45 assists. In 13 conference games, she's accumulated 12.3 points a game with a club-high 31 steals, a tied for team-best 27 assists, 17 three-pointers and is knocking down 41.9 percent of her shots from the floor.

Sophomore Diamond Hall has been the purple and gold's most reliable post player, totaling 127 boards (seventh in SWAC) through 25 games for an average of 5.1 boards a night, both team-bests. In conference she's averaging a squad-high 6.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists plus 6.8 points to contribute in three phases of the game.

Senior Jada Hargrove has collected 13 double-figure scoring performances and is contributing 9.5 points per night. Hargrove holds the team lead at 50 assists, has swiped a team-high 60 steals (third in SWAC) and is second in rebounds with 92 (3.7 a night).

"We have put ourselves in a must-win situation on the road against two teams that are playing very well," said head coach Courtney G. Pruitt. "I know we are up to the task but we must play tough, disciplined basketball."

Alabama A&M (12-11, 8-4 SWAC) has been one of the hottest teams in the SWAC in the month of February, winning its last four games including three by double-figure margins.

The maroon and gray have been powered by its outstanding defense and stellar rebounding, ranking 20th in the country with 15.1 offensive boards per game and placing top-three in conference for blocks per game (3.0), field goal percentage defense (38.4), rebound margin (3.3) and scoring defense (60.9). The Lady Bulldogs have also been very disciplined with the basketball, surrendering the fewest turnovers in the league at 387.

AAMU's heart and soul is sophomore Dariauna Lewis. Lewis torched the Lady Braves last month with a career-high 31 points on 11-of-15 (.733) shooting with eight rebounds and three blocks. The forward from Omaha, Nebraska is fifth in the nation with a .645 field goal percentage, averages 4.2 offensive rebounds a night (top-15 nationally) and is the SWAC's best at getting to the charity stripe as she leads the conference in both free throws attempted (152) and made (99).

Alabama State (7-16, 4-8 SWAC) have gotten the majority of their wins against the bottom half of the league standings as their conference victories have come against teams with a combined record of 6-33 (.154).

The black and gold are one of the top teams in the NCAA regarding free throws, placing fifth in attempts (571) and top-20 in makes (368). The Lady Hornets use its size to its advantage as it deploys six players above six-feet-tall to average three blocks and 37.52 rebounds per game, both top-three SWAC totals.

The squad's two best free throw shooters are Ayana Emmanuel and Aniyah Smith who convert on 78.5 and 74.2 percent of their freebies, respectively, which are both top-five marks in the SWAC.

Courtney Lee runs the point at a high level for the girls from Montgomery, dishing out 3.6 assists per game (third in SWAC) and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.21 (fifth in SWAC).

NOTES

- Alcorn will face Alabama A&M for the 46th time in program history with the Lady Braves winning 28 of those meetings. AAMU has won four straight matchups in the series.

- The Lady Braves hold a 60-29 advantage all-time over Alabama State. The purple and gold won the first meeting between the two schools this season, 73-63 on January 27, 2019.

- The Lady Braves have nearly tripled its win total from 2018-19 (4) and have tied for the most wins in a campaign (11) since the 2015-16 squad.

- Diamond Hall has recorded two of the team's three double-doubles of the season, both versus Grambling State, and was one assist shy of the first triple-double the program has had since at least the 2012-13 campaign in the first meeting. Toddriana Isler has the squad's only other double-double, posting a career-high 13 rebounds and 10 rebounds in a home win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

- Kirdis Clark was named SWAC Player of the Week on January 21, becoming the second Lady Brave to win the award this season. She won the honor after racking up a career-high 23 points and nine field goals in a comeback win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1/20) with 17 of those points coming in the second half. In the two games that weekend at UAPB and MVSU, she averaged 19 points, four rebounds, two steals and an assist per contest while shooting .682 (15-for-22).

- 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 five free throws to go along with a rebound, steal and an assist in the victory.

- 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.

Both games can be heard on the radio on 91.7 FM or wprl.org with Charles Edmond on the call.

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