JACKSON, Miss. – Eight players scored at least two points for the Alcorn State University women's basketball team, but it wouldn't be enough to overcome a plus-17 first quarter and big game from Ameshya Williams as Jackson State took the 66-31 Southwestern Athletic Conference victory Saturday inside Williams Center.
Alcorn (1-5, 1-1 SWAC) was paced by Kirdis Clark who went for seven points and added three rebounds. Cayla Obillo added six points and both Aja Wheeler and Aysha Kirkland tallied four points apiece. Wheeler and Diamond Hall grabbed five rebounds apiece, Quintasia Leatherwood had a team-high three assists, Hall sent back two blocks and a trio of Lady Braves had two steals apiece in Hall, Leatherwood and Obillo.
The Lady Braves opened the scoring seven seconds in on a layup by Obillo. After Jackson State (3-5, 2-1 SWAC) scored the next five points, a three-pointer from Clark tied the game at five. The Lady Tigers then went on a 15-0 run to open up a 20-5 lead late in the first quarter.
The teams went back-and-forth in the second quarter with each scoring 10 points to leave Jackson State with a 36-19 halftime lead.
Kirkland hit a jumper midway through the third quarter and a three-pointer from Nia McCalphia had the deficit back to 16, but the Lady Tigers outscored Alcorn by six the rest of the quarter for a 48-26 lead heading into the final frame.
Jackson State closed the game like they started using an 18-5 fourth quarter run to take the 66-31 victory. Ameshya Williams led the Lady Tigers with 22 points and made it a double-double with 12 rebounds. She also sent back five blocks. Dayzsha Rogan added 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. The Lady Tigers went 26-59 (44.1) from the field, 2-7 (28.6) from three and 12-18 (66.7) at the foul line. It was a tough shooting day for the Lady Braves as they went 11-58 (19.0) from the field, 3-11 (27.3) from three and 6-8 (75.0) at the foul line.
While Alcorn held the edge on fastbreak points (8-4), Jackson State held strong advantages on the glass holding a 52-24 edge on rebounds, 38-10 edge in points in the paint and 20-2 edge on second chance points.
Alcorn continues the road trip as they will play at Grambling State on Monday starting at 5:30 p.m. Grambling State defeated Southern, 67-64, playing for the first time since Dec. 13 earlier Saturday.
