Alcorn State 54, Texas Southern 52
LORMAN, Miss. – A 20-point, six-steal effort from Alexus Freeman aided Alcorn State in denying Texas Southern a share of the regular-season crown during a 54-52 Lady Braves win Saturday afternoon at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
Alcorn State concluded the regular season at 12-17 (8-10 SWAC), earning the No. 6 seed in the Toyota SWAC Women’s Basketball Tournament. Texas Southern (18-11, 13-5 SWAC) is the No. 2 seed.
Miracle Rushing scored nine points for Alcorn.
Although she was held relatively quiet from a scoring standpoint, Joyce Kennerson was a rebound shy of a double-double for TSU, scoring 13 points and grabbing nine rebounds while dishing five assists. Kaitlyn Palmer added 12 points, and Catherine Okwilagwe scored 10 points.
Trailing 14-8 after one, Alcorn turned the tide with a 12-0 run during the early goings of the second quarter that ultimately allowed the Lady Braves to take a 26-24 advantage to the break. After Okwilagwe sank consecutive lay-ups to end the third quarter with TSU up 39-38, the Lady Tigers appeared poised to close the deal after pushing ahead to a 51-43 lead with 5:11 left in the game. However, Cloe Lane buried a three and Danasia Fennie converted from close range to bring Alcorn within one possession with 4:19 left.
After both sides went cold over the next three minutes, Freeman was the difference, outscoring TSU by herself 6-1 — including the game-winner with four ticks left — to win it for Alcorn.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 79, Mississippi Valley State 64
PINE BLUFF, Ark. – A 18-point, 13-rebound effort by Faith Ohanta coupled with a big second-half allowed Arkansas-Pine Bluff to clinch the No. 8 seed in the Toyota Southwestern Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament with a 79-64 win over Mississippi Valley State Saturday night at H.O. Clemmons Arena.
Shawntayla Harris scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds for UAPB (8-20, 6-12 SWAC). Malaik Muhammad added 14 points, four rebounds and three steals, and Aiya Hassan scored 10 points and nabbed seven boards.
Desiray Mosley led Mississippi Valley (2-28, 2-16 SWAC) with 16 points. LaKendra Bassett was two steals shy of a quadruple-double, scoring 11 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists to go with eight swipes. Kenya Arnold and Sydney Floyd added 12 points each.
Up 33-27 at the break, UAPB pulled away on the strength of a 26-9 third quarter scoring advantage over the Devilettes that pushed the Lady Lions ahead by 23. Arkansas-Pine Bluff cruised from there, despite MVSU outscoring the Lady Lions 28-20 in the final quarter.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff limited the Devilettes to a 30.1 percent clip from the field while shooting 48.1 percent from the floor. UAPB outrebounded Mississippi Valley 58-29.
Grambling State 73, Alabama State 52
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Shakyla Hill and Jazmin Boyd led Grambling State in double figures in a 73-52 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) win against Alabama State on Saturday at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
With the victory in the regular season finale, the Lady Tigers earned the SWAC’s No. 3 seed for next week’s SWAC Tournament. Grambling State will face Alcorn State, the No. 6 seed, on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the SWAC Quarterfinals at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.
Grambling State (15-13 Overall, 12-5 SWAC) trailed at the end of one quarter, 14-10, but used a 13-10 run, capped by a Boyd layup with 4:38 remaining in the second quarter to grab a 23-21 lead. The Lady Tigers pulled away in the second half and led by as many as 21 points.
Hill led the Lady Tigers with a double-double of 29 points and 10 rebounds, with three assists and one steal, while Boyd registered 24 points, four rebounds and one steal.
Keimeisha Walker paced Alabama State (8-20, 6-11) 15 points and one rebound.
Grambling State took a slim, 29-25, lead going into the break and stretched the advantage to 51-40 after three quarters.
The Lady Tigers were in cruise control during the final quarter and led by as many as 21 points, 73-52, to pick up the win.
Alabama State has earned the No. 7 seed for the tournament and will travel to face No. 2 seed and defending tournament champion Texas Southern.
Courtesy: Grambling State Sports Information
Jackson State 68, Alabama A&M 58
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Kawaii Perry scored 16 points as Jackson State downed Alabama A&M 68-58 Saturday evening in the T.M. Elmore Gymnasium.
The Lady Tigers (15-12, 10-8 SWAC) had already clinched the No. 5 seed in next week’s SWAC Tournament with a win Thursday over Alabama State. With the loss as well as Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s win over Mississippi Valley tonight, Alabama A&M (11-18, 6-12 SWAC) is eliminated from tournament contention.
Alabama A&M started quickly, taking a 12-8 lead within the first three minutes of the game before Jackson State settled in and took control. Christina Ellis buried a jumper with 1:06 left in the quarter to give Jackson State a 19-17 lead, and the Lady Tigers outscored AAMU 16-7 in the second period to build a 35-24 lead at intermission.
Jackson State led by double-digits throughout the third, but Alabama A&M made a run at it in the fourth, getting as close as seven with 5:55 to play. However, Perry knocked down a trey to push the lead back to 10, and AAMU got no closer than eight the rest of the way.
Jackson State will travel to No. 4 seed Prairie View A&M for first-round action on March 6.
Courtesy: SWAC
