LORMAN, Miss. –
Kiarra Henderson supplied Alcorn with 17 points while teammate
Nakia Cheatham added 16, but in the end missed free throws and layups proved costly as the Braves fell 73-65 to South Alabama on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) at Davey L. Whitney Complex in Lorman, Mississippi.
Alcorn finishes the 2025-26 season at 17-14 overall, while South Alabama (17-18) advances to the second round where the Jaguars will travel to Purdue Fort Wayne on Monday, March 23.
Braves Standouts
•
Maya Hunkin-Claytor was honored briefly before the game for setting the new school record for three-pointers in a single season.
• Hunkin-Claytor connected on 2 of 3 from beyond the arc in the contest, finishing the game with six points.
•
Nakia Cheatham registered her team-leading 10th double-double of the season for the Braves with 16 points and 14 rebounds, adding four blocked shots for the Braves.
• For the 18th time on the year,
Kiarra Henderson reached double figures, scoring a team-high 17 with a 6-for-10 touch from the field.
•
Dalayja Hurt-Floyd provided the Purple and Gold with a team-high five assists, followed by Henderson with three.
• Alcorn shot 43.8 percent from long range as a team.
How It Happened
• South Alabama put up 18 second chance points in the game, limiting the Braves to just four in that category.
• South Alabama jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead behind Diawna Carter-Hartley's fast-break layup and a pair of buckets from Daniela Gonzalez and Amyah Sutton.
• Cheatham scored five of Alcorn's first six points, helping the Braves tie the game at 6-6 midway through the first quarter.
• The teams traded leads four times and tied four times in the opening period, with the Jaguars ultimately pulling ahead on a Gonzalez three-pointer at 00:38 to close the first quarter up 17-12.
• Alcorn opened the quarter with
Arene Iyekekpolor's tip-in layup to trim the deficit, and a
Ja'Sharreah Hunt three-pointer and a Cheatham triple gave the Braves their largest lead of the half at 24-20 with 5:19 remaining.
• South Alabama answered through Jeriyah Baines off the bench, whose eight-point, three-for-four shooting performance in under four minutes helped the Jaguars reclaim control.
• Jeriyah Baines hit a crucial three-pointer with 32 seconds left to push USA's lead to three, then converted a fast-break layup with five seconds remaining – adding a free throw, to close out a 29-34 Jaguars halftime advantage.
• South Alabama would eventually outscore Alcorn 39-36 in the second half.
• The Braves shot just 12-for-23 from the charity stripe, and missed 16 layups within the paint.
• Cordasia Harris paced USA in the second half with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Tamara Ortiz was relentless at the free throw line, converting 10 of 12 attempts over the final two periods to finish with 10 second-half points.
• Alcorn's
Kiarra Henderson provided the Braves best offensive answer, scoring 15 points in the second half on 5 of 7 shooting, including a pair of driving layups in the fourth quarter that kept Alcorn within striking distance.
• Cheatham added eight points and pulled down seven rebounds while anchoring the Alcorn defense with four blocks over the final 20 minutes.
• The Jaguars' biggest advantage of the game came at 6:23 of the fourth period when they pushed the lead to 11, at 45-56, capping a sequence that saw Harris convert a second-chance tip-in layup.
• Alcorn responded with a three-pointer from
Maya Hunkin-Claytor and a clutch three from
Arene Iyekekpolor to briefly threaten, but the Purple and Gold never drew within fewer than six points the rest of the way.
• The Jaguars dominated in the turnover department throughout the game, turning Braves miscues into 26 points. Meanwhile, the Braves managed just 11 points off 16 USA turnovers altogether.
• The Jaguars held a 38-26 edge in points in the paint as well, with the Braves limiting the Jaguars to just 3 of 23 shooting from three-point range.
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