GRAMBLING, La. | Alabama State finds itself in a battle for the regular season Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship as they hit the road for a pair of games this weekend beginning with Grambling State Thursday night.

Alabama State (13-2) and Grambling State tip off at 5:30 pm Thursday with the game on the Hornet Sports Network, and the Lady Hornets look to keep pace with Jackson State who the Lady Hornets face Saturday afternoon at 3 pm.

The Lady Hornets defeated Grambling State (8-8, 7-5 SWAC) 69-61 earlier this season at home in a game that was played on a Wednesday after the original date was postponed in early January. In that contest Shmya Ward led three Lady Hornets in double figures with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Tyesha Rudolph came off the bench to score 18 and Ayana Emmanuel added 13.

Meanwhile, against Jackson State (13-5, 12-1 SWAC), the Lady Hornets came away with a 74-72 victory back on January 4 in their season opener. In that contest, Jayla Crawford led four players in double figures with 18 points, while Emmanuel and Farrah Pearson each added 15. Ward chipped in with 10 points and 10 rebounds in her first game in over a year.

Alabama State finds itself one game behind Jackson State in the standings heading into the final weekend, and they find themselves one game ahead of Alabama A&M and two games ahead of Southern.

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