LA Tech Uses Early Lead to Top Braves in Ruston

RUSTON, La. – The Alcorn Women's Basketball team (2-4) battled back from an early deficit with stiff defense, but couldn't quite gain the upper hand in Saturday's road contest at Louisiana Tech (6-2). A slow offensive start for the Braves gave the Lady Techsters the opportunity to go up by as many as 18, but consistent second quarter rallies and a balanced second half allowed Alcorn to draw the deficit down to as few as eight. In the end, LA Tech managed to keep their distance, despite Destiny Brown's season-high 21 to lead the Braves in the 70-59 loss at the Thomas Assembly Center.
 
Bringing a distinct height advantage into the contest, the Lady Techsters jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first eight minutes of play, particularly in the backcourt, capitalizing on nine turnovers and the Braves missing connections on seven of their first eight shots.
 
Facing a 12-point deficit with only 1:20 left in the opening quarter, De'Asia Reid pulled up just outside the paint to get Alcorn moving with the first field goal since Kiarra Henderson first scored on a spinning drive with 6:17 on the clock. Cayla Obillo hit a key jumper, then picked LA Tech's pocket on consecutive possessions and added three more to her total – chopping the lead down to just six points.
 
Louisiana Tech came roaring back in the second quarter, expanding their lead out to a game-high 18 points on a Mackenzie Wurm putback layup. However, as the Braves leaned into extensive pressure, that was the last field goal the Lady Techsters would see in the half. Alcorn held LA Tech to a single point in the final 6:22, but the defense was stingy all around, as the Braves only added two points in that span to head to half trailing 32-16.
 
The first half proved troublesome for the Braves on the glass, as LA Tech held a 23-8 rebounding advantage. At the break, Alcorn was shooting just 23.3 percent from the field, balanced against LA Tech's 43.5 percent. The foul advantage also leaned toward the Lady Techsters, who saw 12 first half trips to the line, including some early foul trouble for Brown that limited her opportunities.
 
At the break, Obillo was leading the charge, putting nine up nine of her 10 points in the first half.
 
The Lady Techsters rebuilt their lead in the moments just after half, but the Braves began chipping away late in the third quarter as Brown started to find her rhythm inside. Brown put in two paint jumpers and a pair at the line, while Kailyn Watkins added three free throws and Alcorn closed out the third on a 10-2 scoring push.
 
For the first points of the fourth, Brown's free throw made it a single-digit deficit for the first time since the end of the opening frame. Near mid-quarter, back-to-back scores on a three from Tyginae Wright and a jumper for Brown trimmed the margin to eight. But the Lady Techsters made a living off scoring without the clock late in the game, putting away 6-of-6 at the line over the next two minutes, keeping the Braves at enough distance to hold on for the 70-59 win.
 
The boards disparity was balanced out to 15-all in the second half, but the Braves won the turnover battle on a tough afternoon for ball control – Alcorn forced the Lady Techsters into 24 turnovers, but surrendered 21 of their own. Led by Obillo's four takeaways, Alcorn snagged 15 steals in the contest.
 
Brown lit up the scoreboard after the break, scoring all of her season-high 21 points in the second half. Brown shot 8-for-12 from the floor and registered a team-high seven rebounds, while also distributing three assists. Limited to three points, Ashanti Backus doled out a season-high five assists.
 
The Braves return to the Davey L. Whitney Complex early next week, making up the rescheduled date with the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears on Tuesday at 2:00 p.m., after the game was pushed back due to extreme weather throughout the region on Tuesday.
 
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