MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Alabama State returned to Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) action Saturday afternoon inside of Dunn-Oliver Acadome with a dominating 76-63 victory over Alcorn.
Ayana Emmanuel led all scorers with 17 points, three assists, three steals and three rebounds.
Jayla Crawford chipped in 16 points and four rebounds, while also shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
Alabama State (5-12, 4-2 SWAC) got off to a hot start as it jumped out to a 17-7 lead in the first quarter, fueled by three of the five 3-pointers that the Lady Hornets would make on the evening.
Tatyana Calhoun and
Zomoria Clark also reached double digits with 10 points each.
Shmya Ward dominated the glass, hauling in ten rebounds to go along with 10 points, three blocks and two assists.
Tyesha Rudolph was also instrumental on the boards, pulling down nine rebounds in the win.
The Lady Hornets led by as many as 18 points early before ultimately taking a 39-21 advantage into the halftime break.
Alcorn State cut a 27-point Lady Hornet lead to just ten (68-58) in the final stanza after shooting 50 (5-of-10) percent from beyond the arc. Alabama State put the game away after a Crawford jumper with 2:24 left and never allowed the Lady Braves any closer than 10.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The Lady Hornets finished the night shooting 47.5 (29-of-61) percent from the floor and 33.3 (5-of-15) percent from beyond the arc, with three coming from Emmanuel.
The Lady Hornets also shot 48.1 (13-of-27) percent from the free throw line, while narrowly winning the rebounding battle 48-46 and forcing 14 Alcorn turnovers.
The Lady Braves shot 34.8 (23-of-66) percent from the floor and 45.8 (11-of-24) percent from beyond the arc. They also finished the night with just six free throw attempts, shooting 42.9 (6-of-14) percent from the stripe.
Alabama State finished with 34 points in the paint, 19 second-chance points and 21 bench points.
Alcorn tallied 18 points in the paint, 25 bench points and nine second chance points.
QUOTABLES - Head Coach Freda Freeman-Jackson
Thoughts on balanced scoring: "I thought we did a good job on concentrating on blocking out. Early on, especially in the first half we did a really good job of pushing the ball up the floor and finishing around the rim. I am most pleased about Calhoun finally getting double digits, and I told the girls in the fourth to keep feeding her the ball to get her going. We are going to need more out of her to continue this run in the SWAC."
On inside play: "We knew Alcorn couldn't match up with us on the inside so I told the girls to pound it inside and it was ultimately successful."
On 27-point lead erased: "We stopped playing defense and got complacent. They need to understand the game is not over until the horn sounds. Alcorn is an aggressive team and I expected runs, but we have to do a better job at making free throws."
On Southern: "We have to protect home court, that is crucial. We have to take care of business against Southern, it is a must."
NEXT UP
Alabama State remain at home and face Southern University on Monday night inside of Dunn-Oliver Acadome. Tip off is set for 5:30 pm with audio coverage provided by the Hornets Sports Network.
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