LORMAN, Miss. – Backed by big games from both Deja Mitchell and Kirdis Clark, the Alcorn State University women's basketball team started strong and held off a late rally by Prairie View A&M to take the 55-48 Southwestern Athletic Conference victory Monday inside Davey L. Whitney Complex.
Mitchell and Clark combined for 35 points with Mitchell scoring a season-high 19 points on 8-16 shooting, along with seven rebounds, two assists and both a block and a steal. Clark reached double-figures in scoring for the fourth time in five games this season tallying 15 against the Panthers going 7-16 from the field, hitting a pair of three-pointers, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.
Eight players scored at least two points for the Lady Braves (1-4, 1-0 SWAC) as they went 21-61 (34.4) from the field, 3-13 (23.1) from three and 10-18 (55.6) at the foul line. Alcorn was plus-nine in turnovers which led to a big 24-9 advantage on points off turnovers. The Lady Braves also led the way in bench points (29-20), points in the paint (32-30) and fastbreak points (18-12). The win is the first for new head coach Nathaniel Kilbert who now holds wins at three different SWAC programs in his career.
The first quarter helped set the tone for the night for the Lady Braves. After Prairie View A&M (1-4, 0-1 SWAC) opened the scoring nearly two minutes in and held a 4-2 lead, Alcorn went on a 12-0 run to take control. Nia McCalphia started the run with a three-pointer. Mitchell added the next three points (layup, free throw) and after a pair of baskets by Clark, Kailyn Watkins and Aysha Kirkland added free throws to leave Alcorn holding a 14-4 lead late in the quarter.
The Panthers fought back to close the quarter, but the Lady Braves held a 14-9 lead after the first 10 minutes.
Following a close second quarter, Alcorn created separation over the final few minutes of the half. Holding a three-point lead, the Lady Braves stretched the lead to nine before the break. Kirkland, Watkins and Mitchell all combined for a quick eight points to push the lead as high as 11 before a late layup by Prairie View A&M left Alcorn with the 29-20 halftime lead.
The Panthers wouldn't go away, as the Lady Braves had the lead as high as 12 in the third quarter, Prairie View A&M came back to within four midway through the quarter. A big momentum shot closed the quarter when Clark dialed long distance to give Alcorn an eight-point lead entering the final 10 minutes.
Alcorn started the fourth quarter like they did the game recording the first six points to push the lead to a game-high 14. Mitchell started the quarter with a jumper and after two free throws by Cayla Obillo, Aja Wheeler closed the run with a layup for the 53-39 lead with six minutes to play.
Prairie View A&M made one last run going on a 7-0 run to pull to within seven, but it wouldn't be enough with Alcorn taking the 55-48 victory.
Tiffany Tullis led the Panthers with 16 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Diana Rosenthal and Kennedy Paul added eight points apiece. Prairie View A&M went 20-51 (39.2) from the field, 3-11 (27.3) from three and 5-9 (55.6) at the foul line.
Alcorn will hit the road this week as they will play at Jackson State on Saturday starting at 4 p.m. before closing the trip on Monday at Grambling State starting at 5:30 p.m. Jackson State is 2-5 overall and 1-1 in SWAC play, while Grambling State is 1-3 overall and hasn't played a SWAC game due to COVID-19 as their last game took place Dec. 13.
