BATON ROUGE, La. (SWAC) – Fourth-seeded Southern withstood a fourth-quarter surge from no. 5 seed Alcorn State to punch its ticket to Houston by a score of 73-67 at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
Down 57-44 to start the fourth, Alcorn State opened the final quarter on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit within four. Southern managed to push its lead to six, but a three-ball from Tia Sanders put Alcorn State within a bucket of tying the contest with 1:24 left. That was as close as Alcorn would get, as Southern sealed its trip to Houston with free throws down the stretch.
Southern dominated inside, outscoring Alcorn State 50-26 in points in the paint. The Jaguars also held advantages in points off turnovers (24-13), second-chance points (17-13) and fast break points (14-7).
Sanders, Brianna Luton and Alexus Freeman each scored 15 points for the Lady Braves (9-21). The Jaguars, who knocked down 61.3 percent of its shots in the second half (13-of-21) were led by Samantha Duncan and Miaya Crowder, who each scored 17 points. Crowder added 11 boards. Skylar O’Bear chipped in 13 points, and Briana Green added 12 points.
Southern (14-13) will face no. 1 seed Grambling State in the semifinals.
