Southern 61, Alcorn State 57
HOUSTON – Briana Green recorded 15 points in Southern’s 61-57 win over Alcorn State Wednesday afternoon at the Toyota Center. The Lady Jaguars (18-10) will meet the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between 3-seed Texas Southern and 6-seed Jackson State Friday at 12 p.m.
The lower seeded Lady Braves (11-19) battled through the first half of the game, finishing with a one-point advantage. Alcorn State collected the longest run of both quarters with a six-point stretch in the first and a six-point run in the second. Norianna Haynes hit 10 points with eight rebounds at the half. [easyazon_infoblock align=”right” cart=”y” identifier=”B014XEAISW” locale=”US” tag=”hbcusports-20″]
Southern did not own the half, but battled continuously, with Miaya Crowder and Green moving into the breakeach with six points. Britney Washington went the entire first two quarters scoreless, missing all seven of her attempts. She soon netted her first points of the game, knocking down two consecutive three-pointers in the third.
The Jaguars worked to close the scoring gap in the fourth, managing a nine-point run to make the score 51-48.
The Lady Braves allowed Southern to catch them twice in the last quarter of the game, once at 53 and again at 55. But, with 1 minute and 48 seconds on the clock, the Lady Jaguars sunk six unanswered points to pass Alcorn State and win the game, 61-57.
Green grabbed 12 rebounds, giving her the only SUBR double-double. Washington and Ashley Williams ended the game each with 10 points.
Haynes produced a game-high 17 points and 18 rebounds for the Lady Braves. She was joined in double-digit scoring by Ashtin McNichols, who put up 14 points with six rebounds.
Alabama State 87, Alabama A&M 72
No. 1 seed Alabama State fended off the sharp shooting of No. 8 seed Alabama A&M to advance to the semifinals of the SWAC Women’s Basketball Tournament with an 87-72 win. With the victory, the Lady Hornets await the winner of the quarterfinal tilt between 4-seed Grambling State and 5-seed Prairie View A&M on Thursday at 6 p.m.
The upset-minded Lady Bulldogs were able to get within one possession of the defending tournament champions several times down the stretch, but Jasmine Peeples and Britney Wright continued to respond for Alabama State (17-11) in the late moments until Danielle Ewert iced things from the charity stripe. [easyazon_infoblock align=”right” cart=”y” identifier=”B012PDWAZC” locale=”US” tag=”hbcusports-20″]
Led by Ewert’s 13-point fourth quarter, the trio scored 19 of Alabama State’s final 20 points to stave off a potential upending by their in-state rival, who shot 59 percent from the floor – and made a school-tournament record 10 of their 14 three-point attempts – during the game but went scoreless over the final 2:15.
Alabama A&M (5-25) built a first-half advantage thanks knocking down a shade under 64 percent of their attempts from the floor and closing the half on a 6-0 run en route to a 38-36 lead.
The spark didn’t carry over for AAMU – who had advanced past day one for only the fourth time in school history – during the start of the second half, as the Lady Bulldogs committed eight turnovers and made just one field goal over the first six minutes of the third quarter. Meanwhile, Wright and Peeples kicked off a 16-4 run that pushed the top-seeded Lady Hornets to a double-digit advantage.
Janie Myles had a double-double for AAMU with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Sydney Spencer added 10. For ALST, Wright netted 25 points and nabbed six boards, while Peeples added a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Courtesy: SWAC
