MONTGOMERY, Ala. – With four games remaining in the regular season the Alabama State University Lady Hornets find themselves in a dog fight, not just for the regular season SWAC championship, but a home game in the opening round of the SWAC Tournament.
And the fight for a top seed continues on Saturday afternoon when Alabama State (11-13, 10-4 SWAC) hosts Texas Southern (16-9, 10-4 SWAC) at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome. The game will tip at 3 pm, with pregame beginning at 2:45 pm on the Hornet Sports Network.
The two teams are just one game back of conference-leader Grambling State, and just one game ahead of fourth-place Southern. Three games separate the conference leader from the sixth place team in conference with four games remaining on the schedule as they find themselves in a battle for home-court advantage in the opening round of the SWAC Tournament.
The meeting will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams, with Texas Southern winning the first meeting 52-48. In that contest, the Lady Hornets found themselves down by double-digits in the opening half but battled back to have a chance to win with 12 seconds remaining in the contest after a three-pointer by
Damya Toney. However, the Lady Hornets turned the ball over on the final possession allowing Texas Southern to escape with the home win.
In that last contest,
Britney Wright posted another 20-point effort in conference play, finishing the night with 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the floor. She also added four steals, while Toney came off the bench to chip in 10 in the loss.
The game on Saturday will be one of two regular season home games remaining for the Lady Hornets, and will be Alumni Night for both squads (men and women). This season, Alabama State is 6-2 at home with back-to-back wins against Mississippi Valley State and Alabama A&M.
The two teams have met 15 times, with 10 of those taking place at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome; splitting the 10 meetings in Montgomery. The Lady Hornets have two series wins, while Texas Southern has won the series twice since 2008-09 and splitting the other five season series.
Wright enters the contest leading the SWAC at 17.6 points per game and is also averaging 7.2 points per game for the Lady Hornets. The senior needs just 23 points to become the second leading scorer in school history entering the contest for the Lady Hornets. Meanwhile, fellow senior
Daniele Ewert is averaging 10.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game for Alabama State this season. Meanwhile, Joyce Kennerson leads Texas Southern at 17.1 points per game and is the reigning SWAC Player of the Week; while Artavia Ford is averaging 11.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
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