Box Score JACKSON, Miss. | Sixth-seeded Alabama State had their season come to an end as they fell 75-59 at number three Jackson State Tuesday night inside the Lee E. Williams Athletic & Activity Center, in the quarterfinals of the SWAC Toyota Basketball Tournament.
Jayla Crawford led Alabama State (11-19, 10-8 SWAC) with 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field including 3-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Ayana Emmanuel added 10 points, while
Shmya Ward hauled in nine rebounds, four points and three blocks in the loss.
Jackson State (17-13, 13-5 SWAC) was led in scoring by Christina Ellis with 35 points on 12-of-16 shooting to go along with five rebounds, two assists and six steals. She was joined in double figures by Marniesha Hamer with 13 points and six rebounds. The Lady Tigers shot 47.1 (24-of-51) percent from the floor and 33.3 (3-of-9) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 70.6 (24-of-34) percent from the free throw line.
The Lady Hornets played a strong first half against the Lady Tigers, shooting 45 (9-of-20) percent from the field to look up at a 37-26 deficit at the halftime break as Jackson State ended the stanza on 1 17-4 run.
The Lady Tigers got hot in the second half, outscoring the Lady Hornets 21-13 throughout the fourth quarter to take a comfortable 54-46 advantage into the final 10 minutes. Jackson State would extend its lead multiple occasions throughout the fourth quarter before the game arrived at its final margin.
With the loss, the careers of
Tatyana Calhoun and
Areleatha Gipson came to end after helping lead Alabama State to an 11-20 season and 10-8 conference record.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Alabama State narrowly lost the rebounding battle, 38-30.
Jackson State finished with 34 points in the paint, 24 bench points and eight second chance points.
The Lady Hornets finished with 20 points in the paint, nine second chance points and 15 bench points.
The Lady Tigers forced 21 Lady Hornet turnovers that they converted into 24 points, while Alabama State scored 15 points off of 19 Jackson State miscues.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH FREDA FREEMAN-JACKSON
General thoughts: "We were down 11 at the half, so we were never able to get back in the game. I told my girls at the five or six minute mark that they needed to cut the lead to five but we were still down seven. I think we crawled back, but we started making mistakes. With a team like this, they are really solid and my girls are not ready right now to face a team that is this aggressive."
On Ellis: "Our girls didn't do a job guarding her, she got a lot of run outs and easy baskets. I am not taking anything from her, but she is not the type of player to score like that so we just didn't do our job in defending properly."
On going forward: "We have majority of the team coming back. We will miss Calhoun and Gipson, but we will look to get better. We have a great young crew and we have some new recruits coming in so I am confident about next season."
On Emmanuel and Crawford: "They have been neck and neck, and either one of them could've gotten this award as they only have a one-point scoring average. Emmanuel struggled against Jackson because of their big guards, but Jayla executed at the midrange. This offseason we will work on their weaknesses and prepare to come back stronger next season."
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