WBB Hosts Central Arkansas Tuesday at the Whitney

LORMAN, Miss. – Playing the rescheduled matchup from Nov. 29, the Alcorn Braves (2-4) are 2-0 at home in the 2022-23 season and looking to extend that streak on Tuesday with the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears (4-2) coming to the Davey L. Whitney Complex. Severe weather across the region forced postponement of the previously scheduled meeting, and Tuesday's tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. Alcorn will also be accepting toy donations for Toys for Tots at Tuesday's game.

THE GAME: Central Arkansas Sugar Bears (4-2) at Alcorn Braves (2-4)
WHEN: Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 2:00 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)

TOYS FOR TOTS DONATIONS
Alcorn Athletics is accepting donations for Toys for Tots at the next two women's basketball games (Dec. 6 vs. Central Arkansas, Dec. 13 vs. Tougaloo). Donations are asked to be new, unwrapped gifts. The Toys for Tots program run is run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve, which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them Christmas gifts.

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. CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Tuesday will mark the tenth meeting in the series between the two programs, geographically separated by just 290 miles. They met most recently last season with a 64-48 UCA win in Conway, Arkansas. The Sugar Bears have controlled the series with a 9-0 advantage.

LAST SEASON FOR THESE TEAMS
Alcorn completed the 2021-22 season with a 3-22 record, including two victories over SWAC opposition. Alcorn Head Coach Nate Kilbert is in his third season and has a record of 12-39 with the Braves (191-385 career). Central Arkansas went 9-19 a year ago, 4-12 in Atlantic Sun play. Central Arkansas Head Coach Sandra Rushing is in her 11th season with the Sugar Bears and has a 180-129 record at UCA (583-384 career).

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BRAVES
In the interim after the postponed initial meeting with UCA, the Braves traveled to Ruston, La. to square off with Louisiana Tech. An early advantage for the home team proved to steep a hill despite a strong Braves comeback effort. Just eight minutes into the game, LA Tech had built up a 14-2 lead, forcing Alcorn to miss seven of its first eight shots and commit nine turnovers. The Lady Techsters commanded the glass in the first half with a 23-8 advantage.

Limited by early foul trouble, forward Destiny Brown's efforts provided a foundation to rally in the second half. The first points of the fourth quarter, 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 did the required work on free throws, 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.

Brown scored 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.

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The last time for the Braves at home in the Whitney Complex served the Braves well, earning their second consecutive home victory with a comeback win over the New Orleans Privateers.

After falling behind 39-32 at the half, Alcorn's defensive intensity was the difference-maker to complete the rally. The Braves defense forced UNO into seven fourth-quarter turnovers, and Alcorn took its first lead since the second quarter on an Ashanti Backus three at 49-47. With UNO back on top 55-53 at the under-five media timeout, Alcorn ended the game on a 12-3 run to secure the victory.

Brown's 18-point, five-rebound, five-block effort paved the way for the win, while Zy'Nyia White scored 15 with seven rebounds and four assists. Henderson led all rebounders with 11 boards in the game.

LEADING THE WAY FOR ALCORN
Destiny Brown ranks second in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) in both blocks (10) and blocks per game (1.67). For her efforts, she ranks 49th nationally in bpg and 118th in blocks overall. She's also leading the Alcorn scoring effort and ranks ninth in SWAC at 12.3 ppg on a SWAC-leading 62.0 percent (31-for-50) shooting that ranks 15th in the NCAA, Brown has also averaged 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per outing.

Zy'Nyia White is putting up 7.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 1.8 apg. Nia McCalphia and Cayla Obillo rank in a tie for 11th in the SWAC assist rankings with team highs of 14 apiece (2.3 apg). Tyginae Wright also chips in 6.8 ppg and 1.8 rpg and Nakia Cheatham contributes 6.3 ppg with 4.8 rpg.

The Braves rank second in the SWAC in assists per game (13.0), turnovers forced per game (20.67) and assist-to-turnover ratio (.73), coming in at fourth for team blocks per game (3.7). Alcorn ranks 42nd in the NCAA turnovers forced per game, as well as 83rd nationally and second in the SWAC for steals per game with a 9.6 spg average.

ABOUT THE CENTRAL ARKANSAS SUGAR BEARS
At 4-2 on the season, the Sugar Bears are currently on a four-game win streak after opening with a pair of Power-5 losses at Kansas State and Arkansas. They are coming directly off an overtime victory over Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) foe Little Rock on Saturday at home.

The guards for the Sugar Bears, Randrea Wright (16), Parris Atkins (14) and Kayla Mitchell (10) all scored in double-figures in the win.

Evidenced in the 53-49 overtime final, defense was on the docket for the day in Conway. It was a single-possession game throughout the second quarter until a 7-0 UCA run claimed the lead and a Kinley Fisher three-pointer made it a four-point advantage before half.

Coming out of the break with a three-point lead, UCA's urgency reeled off seven consecutive points to take a 10-point lead, holding Little Rock scoreless for over five minutes. The Trojans chipped away at the lead in the fourth and tied the score at 43 in the final minute – forcing overtime.

In the extra period, UCA took control, while Wright and Mitchell outscored Little Rock 10-6 in the extra frame, shooting a combined 5-of-6 to close out the 53-49 win.

Most recent Atlantic Sun (ASUN) Newcomer of the Week award winner, junior Kierra Prim was kept quiet offensively against Little Rock, but leads the team with 12.3 ppg and 9.5 rpg – ranking third in the ASUN and 39th in the NCAA in rebounds per outing. She leads the nation on the offensive glass, grabbing 6.2 offensive rebounds per game.

Freshman Parris Atkins adds 9.7 ppg with 3.8 rpg, 1.7 spg and 1.5 apg. Senior Kayla Mitchell is scoring 7.0 ppg with 2.2 rpg. Sophomore guard Randrea Wright has racked up 18 assists through six games, on top of scoring 7.3 ppg with 3.5 rpg.

The Sugar Bears are only averaging 51.7 ppg as a team with a 37.7 rpg average. Comparatively, the Braves average 61.5 ppg and 35.0 rpg.

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
In back-to-back home games, the Braves will be back inside the Whitney on Dec. 13 with Tougaloo College coming over from Jackson. After that, three consecutive road games take Alcorn into the holidays, heading to Colorado (Dec. 16), UL Monroe (Dec. 19) and UAB (Dec. 21).

For all Alcorn State Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BravesSports), Instagram (@AlcornSports) and YouTube (Alcorn State Sports).