BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –
Kiarra Henderson topped the Braves in scoring with 11 points Wednesday afternoon as Alcorn Women's Basketball suffered a tough 70-56 setback away to UAB inside Bartow Arena. For Alcorn, the game was the last of its kind before the winter holidays.
With Alcorn (4-7) trailing 50-45 heading into the fourth quarter, it would be the final period that allowed the hosts to pull away for good.
UAB (8-2) connected on all 10 of its free throw attempts in the fourth quarter, while the Blazers added a pair of three-point baskets to outscore the visiting Braves by a 20-11 count across the final 10 minutes of play.
Margaret Whitley scored the Blazers' first five points of the fourth quarter, connecting on a three-pointer and a jumper just outside the paint. A pair of Lyndsey Robson free throws was followed by Whitley's pair of made shots from the charity stripe to extend the UAB lead at 59-45 just under three minutes into the period.
When UAB's Denim DeShields converted both of her free throw attempts, the Blazers held their largest lead of the afternoon to that point, 61-45.
Counter to that, Alcorn was held scoreless for the first four minutes and 48 seconds of the final quarter.
T'Naye Griffin's free throws ended the Blazers scoring run. However, the first field goal by the Purple and Gold was converted off the baseline by
Destiny Brown with 4:28 remaining in the contest, cutting the deficit at 63-48.
Tyginae Wright scored the game's opening basket for the Braves within the first 20 seconds, before Whitley combined with forward Maria Roters to power a UAB 12-2 run that put the Blazers up early, 12-4.
Baskets from
Ashanti Backus and Henderson allowed the Braves to cut the lead down to three, 14-11, before the Blazers' Destinee McGhee converted a pair of free throws – in addition to another Whitley shot from long range, to put UAB on top, 19-11 with 1:52 remaining in the first quarter.
Akyriale Ford added a basket for the Purple and Gold to make the score 19-15 at the end of the first quarter.
Maya Claytor and
Cayla Obillo supplied Alcorn with three points apiece in the second quarter, as the Braves trailed 33-27 at the half.
Henderson led the Braves offensively with 11 points, followed by nine from Griffin. Henderson also topped the Braves in rebounds with nine, falling just short of a double-double performance. Brown added seven rebounds of her own. Meanwhile,
Zy'Nyia White had three steals.
UAB was led in scoring by Whitley with 18, followed in double-digits by DeShields with 14 points and another 11 points from Amiya Payne.
Alcorn does not return to the hardwood again until after the new year when the Braves play host to in-state foe Jackson State in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opener for both teams on January 2, inside the Davey L. Whitney Complex with tip-off slated for 2 p.m.
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