Women's Basketball | 3/4/2020 10:01:00 AM

Lady Braves Jockey For Seeding During Regular Season Finales

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LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University women's basketball program are locked into the SWAC Tournament and can play its way up to a five seed depending on the outcomes of this weekend's matchups with Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern.

The Lady Braves (12-16, 8-8 SWAC) have led the nation in steals (401), steals per game (14.3) and turnovers forced (26.57) since November 26, 2019 and have not relinquished that crown since. The purple and gold also hold a top-20 ranking for turnover margin (5.46). Coach Pruitt's crew places inside the top-three in the SWAC for offensive rebounds per game (14.5), rebounds (1001) and three-point field goal defense (29.5).

These will be the last two games inside the Davey L. Whitney Complex for seniors Jada Hargrove, Toddriana Isler and Charisma Wallker as Alcorn is guaranteed to be on the road to begin the SWAC Tournament.

Hargrove is the lone Lady Braves senior to have spent all four seasons on The Reservation, amassing 759 points (6.5 per game), 313 rebounds (2.7 per game), 251 assists (2.1 per game), and 169 steals (1.4 per game) while knocking down 67 triples. A native of Riverdale, Georgia, she was named to the FIU All-Tournament Team in 2018-19 and has accumulated 33 double-figure scoring performances in her career. This season, she leads the purple and gold with 67 steals (top-40 in NCAA) and 57 assists while placing second on the squad in points per game (9.5) and rebounds (99).

Isler was brought in alongside Walker during the summer of 2018 after spending two years at Andrew College. The Albany, Georgia native played in 51 games with 32 starts, contributing 7.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game as well as 56 assists and 45 steals. The forward was one of two Lady Braves to record a double-double this year when she went for ten points and 13 rebounds in a victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, upping her career total to four in the process.

Walker has spent the past two seasons on The Reservation after transferring from Pearl River Community College following the 2017-18 season. In a Lady Braves uniform, the Brandon, Mississippi native has appeared in 54 games while making one start, has converted 37.6 percent of her shots from the floor and averaged 5.4 points plus 4.5 rebounds to go along with 38 steals, 30 assists and 25 blocks. She had one double-double in her career, putting together 12 points and 10 boards in a win over Fisk last season.

"This weekend is very important for our seniors and our team," said head coach Courtney G. Pruitt. "We want them to end their career with a bang and as a team we want to finish our regular season on a high note. We know both games will be a battle."

Prairie View A&M (12-16, 9-7 SWAC) has struggled away from the William Nicks Building this season, posting a 3-10 record on the road. The Lady Panthers have alternated wins and losses over its past four contests.

Similar to Coach Pruitt's squad, PVAMU excels in taking away the basketball, ranking among the nation's top-50 in steals per game (9.7) and turnover margin (3.39) while placing top-25 for turnovers forced per game (20.32).

Bernesha Peters is Prairie View's top defender and deep ball threat snatching 1.88 steals per contest and averaging the fourth-most three-pointers in the conference at 1.77 a night.

When it comes to the paint, PVAMU has two disruptive post players in Ke'Asia Williams and Jhyrah Cobb. Cobb is a shot blocker who is top-five in the league with 37 blocks for a 1.76 average while Williams has hauled in the fourth-most rebounds per game in the SWAC at 7.0 per contest.

Tatyana Perez leads all conference players with a stellar assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.80.

Texas Southern (18-9, 13-3 SWAC) has been one of the best teams in the conference all season and are currently riding a tied for season-best five game winning streak into the weekend.

TSU is also a stout defensive-minded club, ranking top-five in the NCAA for steals (343), steals per game (12.7) and turnovers forced (22.59).

The Lady Tigers have a dynamic duo in Preseason SWAC Player of the Year Niya Mitchell and Rutgers graduate transfer Ciani Cryor. Mitchell has averaged a double-double per game with 16.0 points and 11.4 rebounds per game as she racked up 14 such performances so far in 2019-20.  Cryor is top-ten in the nation with 173 assists (6.7 per game), top-five for steals at 101 (3.88 per game) and leads the SWAC with 18.0 points per game.

Richelle Velez is the most lethal three-point assassin in the conference, topping the leader boards in triples (69) and three-point percentage (36.1).

NOTES

- Alcorn will take the court against Prairie View A&M for the 84th time in program history with the Lady Braves owning a 57-26 advantage in the series. Under Coach Pruitt, the Lady Braves are 4-5 versus the Lady Panthers.

- The Lady Braves and Lady Tigers have duked it out 79 times prior to Saturday's matchup with Alcorn holding a significant 55-24 edge all-time. The purple and gold are 2-7 under Coach Pruitt when facing Texas Southern.

- The Lady Braves have tripled its win total from 2018-19 (4) and have the most wins in a campaign (12) since the 2011-12 squad that won 14 games.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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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