Iyekekpolor Powers Alcorn to Road Victory

HOUSTON – Arene Iyekekpolor scored a season-high 21 points while Nakia Cheatham scored the 1,000th point of her career Thursday evening in helping visiting Alcorn to a 68-54 win at Texas Southern in a pivotal Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Women's Basketball showdown at the Health & Physical Education Arena.
 
With the win, Alcorn (15-11, 12-3 SWAC) remains 2.5 games back of Alabama A&M in second place of the league standings with three games to play for both teams. Texas Southern (9-19, 5-11 SWAC) dropped its seventh consecutive game in the loss.
 
Braves Standouts
• A Nakia Cheatham three-pointer with 2:44 remaining in the third quarter allowed her to eclipse 1,000 career points in her stint at Alcorn.
• The 21 points scored by Iyekekpolor was a Division I career high for the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada native.
• Kiarra Henderson continues to climb up the assists charts with five handed out on the night.
• Cheatham finished in double-digits with 12 points, adding six rebounds and a game-high six steals.
• Jeanee Anderson netted her first here-pointer since January 15 (versus Prairie View A&M).
 
How It Happened
• Trailing 4-0 from the start, Alcorn went on an 18-2 run over the span of the next six minutes.
• Arene Iyekekpolor poured in nine of her game-high tying 21 points in the opening period, shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor – adding one (1) three-pointer.
• Jeanee Anderson knocked down a three-pointer for Alcorn while Chrishunti Walker completed a three-point play from the foul line to give the Braves their largest lead of the game at 33-11.
• Texas Southern leading scorer Taliyah Logwood poured in 10 points in the second quarter, including four down the stretch to bring the Tigers within 42-25 at the break.
• The Purple and Gold shot 53.3 percent from the field in the opening half, holding TXSO to 37.9 percent shooting.
• With TXSO making a run in the fourth quarter, the Braves shot 55.6 percent from the field over the last 10 minutes.
• The two teams were even with points in the paint (36).
• The Braves bench outscored the Tigers by a 34-19 advantage, as it was Iyekekpolor providing the majority of those points.
• Logwood matches Iyekekpolor with 21 points scored in the contest, connecting on 9 of 19 from the floor.
• Alcorn limited the Tigers to a 1-for-23 effort from long distance, while connecting on 6 of 17 itself.
• Maya Hunkin-Claytor failed to hit a three-pointer in back-to-back games for the first time this season.
 
Up Next
Alcorn plays its final road contest of the year Saturday, Feb. 28, when the Braves travel to Prairie View A&M in Prairie View, Texas, at 2 p.m.
 
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