Women's Basketball | 2/28/2020 12:00:00 PM

Lady Braves Begin Final Homestand Versus Lady Jaguars

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LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University women's basketball program starts its regular season ending three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon as the Lady Braves host the Lady Jaguars at 3 p.m.

The Lady Braves (11-16, 7-8 SWAC) still reign over the entire NCAA in three separate defensive categories as the purple and gold have led the nation in steals (386), steals per game (14.3) and turnovers forced per game (26.56) for three months straight.

Along with their gaudy defensive totals, the girls from Lorman are among the 20-best teams in the country regarding turnover margin (5.26) while being among the elite in the SWAC for assists (322), free throw attempts (529), offensive rebounds per game (14.7), rebounds (965), scoring offense (63.4) and three-point defense (29.6).

Senior Jada Hargrove is the most experienced Lady Brave on the roster as she's the only senior who has played all four seasons on The Reservation. This season, Hargrove has had 14 double-digit scoring games while leading the team in both steals (64) and assists (54) to go along with placing second in points per game (9.6) and rebounds (97).

Sophomore Diamond Hall has put together two double-doubles so far in the 2019-20 campaign and is the club's top rebounder with 135 boards for a 5.0 average. In SWAC competition, Hall has contributed immensely in three important phases of the game including points (6.9 per game), rebounds (6.3 per game) and assists (1.9 per game).

Junior LaRae Rascoe came over from Ancilla College in the offseason and has taken the mantle as the squad's go-to scorer, posting 17 double-figure scoring nights and placing ninth in the conference with 11.5 points per contest. Rascoe has been a factor in all areas, fronting the team with 32 three-pointers plus swiping 61 steals and dishing out 47 assists.

Junior Kirdis Clark has usurped Rascoe as the top scorer once the calendar flipped to conference play, racking up a team-high 11.5 points a night and knocking down 42.5 percent of her shots from the floor. With an exception to the Tougaloo game on November 26, all of her double-digit scoring outbursts have been against the SWAC.

Southern (13-13, 11-4 SWAC) lost a heartbreaker in their last outing, falling to Alabama A&M on a buzzer beater in Huntsville, 59-57. The light blue and gold were playing great basketball as they had won nine of their last ten prior to that loss.

The Lady Jaguars have the stingiest defense in the conference, allowing an average of only 59.7 points per game. SU also drains a high percentage of three-pointers (30.9) as well as winning the turnover battle (4.04 turnover margin).

Brittany Rose is the lone Lady Jaguar to average ten-plus points per game (10.2) and is in a three-way tie among her teammates for most three-pointers made (31).

Alyric Scott is the other big weapon for Southern, converting 44 percent of her field goal attempts as she averages 7.7 points, 3.2 boards and 1.2 assists a night.

NOTES
- Alcorn leads the all-time series with Southern (48-32) but have dropped six-in-a-row to the Lady Jaguars.

- 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.

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

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