WBB Preview | Alcorn vs. New Orleans

LORMAN, Miss. – Coming off the first win of the 2022-23 campaign and the program's first 100-point game since the 2004-05 season, the Alcorn Women's Basketball Team (1-3) plays host to the University of New Orleans Privateers (1-2) on Tuesday, Nov. 22, in their second consecutive home game. The Braves and Privateers will tip off at 6 p.m., in the Davey L. Whitney Complex and fans are encouraged to bring donations of canned food for the holidays.

THE GAME: New Orleans Privateers (1-2) at Alcorn Braves (1-3)
WHEN: Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 6 p.m. CT
WHERE: Davey L. Whitney Health and Physical Education Complex (Lorman, Miss.)
LIVE STATS: Alcorn
LISTEN LIVE: WPRL 91.7 FM / Tune In (Alcorn)

CANNED FOOD DONATIONS
Alcorn Athletics is accepting canned food donations for admission at the next women's basketball games versus New Orleans. Donations will go toward supporting local churches and food banks for the holidays.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with everything Alcorn Women's Basketball this year by following the Braves social media platforms. You can follow @AlcornSports on Instagram and @BravesSports on Twitter.

SERIES VS. NEW ORLEANS
Wednesday will mark the seventh meeting in the series between the two programs, most recently playing in the 2020-21 season with a 66-62 Privateers victory in New Orleans. The series was scheduled to resume last season, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. The overall series is tied, 3-3.

LAST SEASON FOR THESE TEAMS
Alcorn completed the 2021-22 season with a 3-22 record, including two victories over SWAC opposition. Arkansas Baptist went 0-14 last year. Alcorn Head Coach Nate Kilbert is in his third season and has a record of 11-38 with the Braves (190-384 career). New Orleans Head Coach Keeshawn Davenport is in her 12th season with the Privateers and has a career and UNO record of 89-208.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BRAVES
The comforts of home were good for the Braves, breaking out to a 100-51 win to stay a perfect 3-0 in the series against Arkansas Baptist. It was a much-needed victory after a three-game road set that didn't sway in Alcorn's direction in games at Tulsa, Wichita State and Illinois.
 
After putting the first five points on the board, the Braves briefly had to fight off a Buffaloes push, but quickly accelerated their scoring on consecutive first-quarter threes from Taginae Wright and Zy'Nyia White, coming out of the opening period with a 23-15 advantage.
 
The floodgates started to leak in the second quarter, as Alcorn outscored Arkansas Baptist 9-3 in the first five minutes of the period and doubled up the lead at the break, 44-22.
 
Another 13-2 scoring run out of halftime made things comfortable, thanks to offensive efforts from Destiny Brown, Nakia Cheatham, Ashanti Backus and White. Thanks to eight steals in the third period, the Braves were able to drastically expand the advantage out to 77-34, only allowing 12 points in the third.
 
Everybody jumped into action in the final period, with Jeanee Anderson, Kiarra Henderson and De'Asia Reid contributing to another strong quarter, as Nia McCalphia's three clinched the first 100-point outing for Alcorn in 18 years, closing out the 100-51 victory.

All 13 players who appeared got on the scoreboard, led by White's 12. T'Naye Griffin put up 11 and had 4 rebounds, while Wright put up 11, Cheatham scored 10 with a team-leading 8 boards and Destiny Brown was 4-for-4 from the field for 10 points with 4 rebounds. 12 players logged at least 10 minutes.
 
In all, the Braves shot 48 percent from three-point territory, connecting on 12-of-25 shots from long range. Alcorn shot 54.4 percent from the floor overall as well. Meanwhile, the Braves defense thwarted the Buffaloes into an 0-for-9 performance from three-point territory in the contest. Alcorn forced the Buffaloes into 31 turnovers on the night, while going on to outscore the visitors by a 53-19 advantage in bench points. Off turnovers, the Braves outscored Arkansas Baptist, 36-14.

THE BRAVES IN THE 2022-23 SEASON
The road games were a grind for the Braves against teams from the American Athletic Conference and the Big Ten, which all saw significantly more exhibition and closed scrimmage action than Alcorn. Although the Braves played their game well on the road, they returned 0-3 with the best result coming at Wichita State, where the Shockers only really created separation late in the second half of their 67-53 win.
 
Southern Nevada transfer and JUCO All-American Destiny Brown has emerged as the scoring leader at the center spot, shooting 61.5 percent for and 8.8-point average, while also pacing the Braves on the boards with 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks. Providing leadership as a returning player, senior forward Taginae Wright is averaging 7.8 points and has hit a team-high seven three-pointers, grabbing 2.5 rpg and leading the team with 10 assists. Redshirt sophomore forward Akyriale Ford has been productive off the bench, scoring 7.3 points per outing, leading the team with 6 blocks and collecting 3.3 boards per game. Zy'Nyia White has added in 6.8 ppg and 2.5 rpg, while Nakia Cheatham paces Alcorn with 4.8 rebounds per game alongside her 6.3 ppg average.
 
ABOUT THE NEW ORLEANS PRIVATEERS
In the 12th season under Keeshawn Davenport, New Orleans earned their first season victory last Monday, topping South Alabama, 71-63 at home. UNO is coming to the Whitney Complex fresh off an in-state tilt in north Louisiana at Grambling on Friday as part of a two-game Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) road swing.
 
WHAT DID THEY DO AT GRAMBLING?
 
The Privateers are averaging 61.7 points per contest, with senior guard DeArica Pryor knocking down 29 points in her debut against USA to lead UNO to victory. With two games under her belt, Pryor is now averaging a team-leading 21.5 ppg, building on last season when she averaged 11.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.6 assists and 2.3 steals – earning a spot on the Southland All-Defensive Team after transferring from Creighton. Redshirt Junior guard Justice Ross has been steady at 8.7 ppg, while leading the glass effort with 8.0 rpg after missing most of last year to injury. Center Nora Francois has contributed for the Privateers with 10.7 ppg and 7.3 rpg since arriving from North Iowa CC this season. The Privateers take about a third of their shots behind the arc and are shooting 34 percent from the perimeter, as opposed to their 40.4 percent mark from the field overall.
 
So far this season, UNO has averaged 23.7 turnovers each time out, while their opponents have only given up 15.7 turnovers on average. They average 37.7 rebounds as a team and haven't had a big upper hand over the opposition on the glass.
 
MAGNOLIA VS. PELICAN
Despite being just a couple of miles from the natural border between the states, the Mississippi River and under 150 miles from New Orleans, the Braves have no players from Louisiana. However, they do represent their home state well, with seven in-state players on the Braves' roster. On the opposite side, the Privateers only brought in two players from Louisiana and none from the Magnolia State.

CATCH THE BRAVES LIVE AT THE WHITNEY IN 2022-23
Season Tickets for the 2022-23 Alcorn men's and women's basketball teams at the Davey L. Whitney Health and Physical Education Complex are now available for purchase at https://alcornsports.myimpacttickets.com/basketball. Season tickets for the home SWAC competitions are $76.25, while single-game admission is $12.65 in advance.

UP NEXT
The Braves will close out their three-game home stand after the Thanksgiving holiday, playing host to newly-minted Atlantic Sun (ASUN) foe Central Arkansas on Nov. 29 at the Davey L. Whitney Health and Physical Education Complex.

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