#SWACWBB Recap: December 17
SWAC.org
Today’s Scores:
Rust College 78, Alcorn State 59
North Alabama 86, Mississippi Valley State 72
Cold shooting hampers Alcorn vs. Rust
LORMAN, Miss. — A tough shooting night was too much for the Alcorn State University women's basketball program to overcome as it dropped a 78-59 decision to Rust College on Monday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
The Lady Braves (1-8) were 25-for-77 (.325) from the floor including a 1-for-12 (.083) mark from three-point range. Conversely, Rust (11-0) remained undefeated after posting a 31-for-64 (.484) clip, including a 6-for-14 (.429) night from beyond-the-arc.
Alcorn held a 52-39 rebounding advantage and an 18-6 edge in bench scoring. Junior Diamond Hall pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds to go along with eight points. Junior Toddriana Isler secured 10 rebounds and scored seven points.
The offense was paced by Jada Hargrove who notched 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in 39 minutes. Senior De'Asia Brown and junior Charisma Walker tallied 12 points apiece.
The hot hand was on the other end of the court though as Rust's Keimeshia Walker netted 33 points including a 9-for-10 mark at the free throw line. Kennethah Harden ended with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Katie Blackmon finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Alcorn's only lead of the game came in the opening minute as Hargrove pulled up and knocked down a mid-range jumper to make it 4-3. After a slight 5-0 run by Rust to go up 8-4, the Bearcats scored the final seven points of the quarter to lead 21-11 at the end of the first.
After Rust went up 27-13 early in the second, Hargrove swished a three-pointer, Walker converted a lay-up and Kirkland scored inside to get the deficit down to 27-20 at the 4:06 mark. Though, the Bearcats again ended the quarter hot and lay-ups by Blackmon and Harden had them in front 37-24 at the intermission.
A 6-0 spurt by Rust extended the lead to 53-34 midway through the third. An old-fashioned three-point play by Hargrove on the final possession trimmed the deficit to 61-45 heading into the final period.
Alcorn's best stretch of the game came early in the fourth after the defense caused turnovers which led to lay-ups. Brown, Hall and Hargrove all made one to force the Bearcats into a timeout with the score 61-51 with 8:17 remaining. Though after the timeout, Rust put the game out of reach with a 12-0 run as the Lady Braves again went cold.
- Alcorn State Sports Information
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Devilettes fall to North Alabama
ITTA BENA, Miss. – Despite a halftime lead, The Mississippi Valley State University women's basketball team came up on the short end of an 86-72 Monday tilt to North Alabama at R.W. Harrison HPER Complex.
The Devilettes (1-9) shot 36.1 percent from the floor (26-of-72), including a 6-of-19 line from three-point range. UNA knocked down 29-of-65 during the game, good for a 44.6 percent clip. The Lions also swished 12 treys in the game.
Led by Kristy Parker’s 15 points, Valley saw four players in double figures. Nyla Smith and Sydnie Ward each scored 13 points, and Erin Smith added 12 points. LaKendra Bassett added eight points, eight rebounds and three steals, but struggled from the floor to the tune of a 2-for-18 mark from the floor.
Ivy Wallen led North Alabama with a 33-point effort, grabbing eight boards and dishing seven assists while shooting 7-of-12 from beyond the arc. Darby Madden added 15 points, Kenysha Coulson scored 12, and Ansley Eubank netted 10 points.
Down 19-15 after one, Valley turned matters around midway through the second as Smith buried a pair of three-balls and Parker cashed in on a layup to erase a 28-23 deficit. At the half, MVSU led 37-34.
The Devilettes pushed their lead to eight, but Madden caught fire from deep, connecting on three treys as UNA put together a 22-6 run to turn a 46-40 MVSU lead into a 62-52 UNA advantage as the third quarter came to a close.
UNA pulled away from there as Wallen scored 13 points to keep the Devilettes at bay.
MVSU was outrebounded 47-34 in the game, but got 28 points from its bench compared to 22 points from North Alabama’s reserves.