Alabama State women's basketball team welcomes Oakwood University to the Dunn-Oliver Acadome in their season home opener on Monday, November 26 at 7 p.m.
 
Alabama State returned to practice today in the Dunn-Oliver Acadome after spending the past three days in Birmingham at the Samford Thanksgiving Classic, falling to both host team Samford 49-19 and to UAB 74-41. 
 
The team was led by freshman Jasmine Peeples who scored a career and team high of seven points against Samford and sophomore Kierra Paige who scored a season high of 18 points against UAB.  Peeples led the charge on the boards, totaling 10 rebounds during the two day classic.
 
The Lady Hornets were anxious to get back on their home court, no one more anxious then head women's basketball coach Freda Freeman-Jackson.
 
”Like the old saying goes, “home sweet home,” said Freeman-Jackson.  “When I walked in the gym this morning for practice those were the first words that came out of my mouth.  It's nothing like being at home it's the environment of being at home in front our fans.  Especially after playing on the road this past weekend, and the day after Thanksgiving we need this. I don't think we were focused this past weekend, we missed too many assignments, and now it's time for us to get back to the drawing board.  This is a good time for us to play this game against Oakwood, especially after the two losses like we encountered.  This is exactly what we need to be on our home court in front of our fans, so we can feel good about ourselves again.”
 
The Lady Hornets went back to the drawing board working on defensive drills and basic fundamentals of basketball during their practice.
 
“Practice was a little different for us today,” said Freeman-Jackson.  “After two big losses like we had I felt as though we needed to go back to square one.  We did a lot of brain storming today and I felt that we (the coaches) wanted to make sure that everyone knows what their role is on the team.  We mainly emphasized on playing defense and letting them know in order for you to play at Alabama State that you have to play smart and aggressive defense.  We mostly worked on defensive drills and focused on half court plays, making sure that we know what to do on the defensive end of the court.
 
Although the main focus was on defensive strategies the Lady Hornets did get a chance to focus their attention on the upcoming game against Oakwood.
 
“I feel like we are prepared for Oakwood tomorrow,”   Freeman-Jackson said. “I think that the girls are remorseful and understand what it's going to take to play Alabama State basketball.  We are more focused and they now know what it takes to compete on this level.”