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Hornets clinch share of SWAC title
By Josh Moon
Montgomery Advertiser
Senior Night for the Alabama State women couldn't have gone much better.
The Lady Hornets (17-8; 15-1 in the SWAC) dominated Texas Southern, winning 85-52. Forward Shameka Jackson surpassed the 2,000-point mark for her career, four different players scored in double figures and ASU, which clinched a share of the SWAC title, completed a run in which it has won every home conference game for the past two years.
"This is a game we had to have," said ASU head coach Freda Freeman-Jackson. "We're battling with Jackson State for the conference championship and can't afford any slip ups. This was an important game for us and we played like it."
Surpassing 2,000 points wasn't quite as easy for Jackson as most thought it would be.
She started the night just two points shy of the mark and the Lady Hornets made a concerted effort to get her the ball early. The problem was Texas Southern knew the gameplan.
The Lady Tigers (6-19; 4-12) double-teamed Jackson every time she touched the ball and made every effort to deny her the ball. The strategy worked for the first six minutes of the game, as Jackson managed just one point on a free throw and Texas Southern was able to keep pace with the Lady Hornets.
But with just over 13 minutes to play, ASU turned up the defensive pressure.
The move paid off almost immediately, as the Lady Tigers turned the ball over three straight times and gave ASU fast-break opportunities. One of those fast breaks ended in a layup and points No. 2,000 and 2,001 for Jackson.
"I wasn't nervous about it, I don't think," said Jackson, who finished with 13 points. "I had a couple of shots at it early on but I was trying to get my roommate (Chrishutta Lewis) the assist. You can't take but a couple of dribbles and have it still count as an assist. After a few minutes, though, I had to forget about it."
It would be the only dramatics of the game.
Under the suffocating ASU defense, the Lady Tigers turned the ball over 25 times, shot just 23 percent in the second half and went 2-for-16 from behind the 3-point line.
At the same time, the Lady Hornets were having on of their best shooting nights of the season.
After struggling with her shot for much of the season, Lewis came to life Monday night. She scored a game-high 19 points and went 5-of-14 from behind the 3-point line.
"Chrishutta getting back on track is really important for us," said Freeman-Jackson. "It takes away teams' ability to double up on Shameka and Crystal Kitt. She's been struggling this season, but is starting to come on."
With the win the Lady Hornets clinched a share of the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular-season title and can win it outright with a win at Jackson State Thursday night.
Freeman-Jackson is tired of worrying about it.
"Maybe at Grambling on Saturday we can finally relax," she said."It just can't ever be easy. We've lost one game in the conference and that's taking us down to the wire in the conference race."
Jawanda West had 12, and Latasha Thomas added 11 for ASU.
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Hornets clinch share of SWAC title
By Josh Moon
Montgomery Advertiser
Senior Night for the Alabama State women couldn't have gone much better.
The Lady Hornets (17-8; 15-1 in the SWAC) dominated Texas Southern, winning 85-52. Forward Shameka Jackson surpassed the 2,000-point mark for her career, four different players scored in double figures and ASU, which clinched a share of the SWAC title, completed a run in which it has won every home conference game for the past two years.
"This is a game we had to have," said ASU head coach Freda Freeman-Jackson. "We're battling with Jackson State for the conference championship and can't afford any slip ups. This was an important game for us and we played like it."
Surpassing 2,000 points wasn't quite as easy for Jackson as most thought it would be.
She started the night just two points shy of the mark and the Lady Hornets made a concerted effort to get her the ball early. The problem was Texas Southern knew the gameplan.
The Lady Tigers (6-19; 4-12) double-teamed Jackson every time she touched the ball and made every effort to deny her the ball. The strategy worked for the first six minutes of the game, as Jackson managed just one point on a free throw and Texas Southern was able to keep pace with the Lady Hornets.
But with just over 13 minutes to play, ASU turned up the defensive pressure.
The move paid off almost immediately, as the Lady Tigers turned the ball over three straight times and gave ASU fast-break opportunities. One of those fast breaks ended in a layup and points No. 2,000 and 2,001 for Jackson.
"I wasn't nervous about it, I don't think," said Jackson, who finished with 13 points. "I had a couple of shots at it early on but I was trying to get my roommate (Chrishutta Lewis) the assist. You can't take but a couple of dribbles and have it still count as an assist. After a few minutes, though, I had to forget about it."
It would be the only dramatics of the game.
Under the suffocating ASU defense, the Lady Tigers turned the ball over 25 times, shot just 23 percent in the second half and went 2-for-16 from behind the 3-point line.
At the same time, the Lady Hornets were having on of their best shooting nights of the season.
After struggling with her shot for much of the season, Lewis came to life Monday night. She scored a game-high 19 points and went 5-of-14 from behind the 3-point line.
"Chrishutta getting back on track is really important for us," said Freeman-Jackson. "It takes away teams' ability to double up on Shameka and Crystal Kitt. She's been struggling this season, but is starting to come on."
With the win the Lady Hornets clinched a share of the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular-season title and can win it outright with a win at Jackson State Thursday night.
Freeman-Jackson is tired of worrying about it.
"Maybe at Grambling on Saturday we can finally relax," she said."It just can't ever be easy. We've lost one game in the conference and that's taking us down to the wire in the conference race."
Jawanda West had 12, and Latasha Thomas added 11 for ASU.
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