BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | Ayana Emmanuel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) led three players in double figures in the Cricket Wireless Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Basketball Tournament presented by Mountain Dew, but it wasn't enough to overcome the shooting of No.1 seed Jackson State as the Hornets fell 101-80 in the championship game.

Emmanuel finished with a game-high 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor, including knocking down four three-pointers. She also grabbed four rebounds in the loss, while Jayla Crawford (Birmingham, Ala.) finished with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor including four three-pointers. Shmya Ward (Memphis, Tenn.) finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for the Hornets.

Meanwhile, Miya Crump led Jackson State with 22 points, pacing six players in double figures. Dayzsha Rogan added 17, while Ameshya Williams-Holliday added 14 points and nine rebounds.

Post Game Press Conference (Alabama State)



Team Stats

• The Tigers scored on their first 10 trips down the floor before Emmanuel drew a charge with 5:25 to play in the opening quarter.
• Alabama State finished the day shooting 48.3 (29-of-60) percent from the floor and 42.1 (8-of-19) percent from beyond the arc, while also shooting 73.7 (14-of-19) percent from the free throw line.
• Jackson State finished the game shooting 58.1 (36-of-62) percent from the floor and 46.7 (7-of-15) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 66.7 (22-of-33) percent from the free throw line, and won the rebounding battle 36-29.

First Half

• After Alabama State missed an opening layup off the initial tip, Jackson State went on a 7-0 run until Ward connected on a lay-up with 7:54 to play in the quarter to trim the lead to 7-2.
• Jackson State pushed the lead to double digits after a fast break with just under six minutes to play in the opening quarter, extending their lead to 17-4 before a Ward jumper halted the run with 5:33 to play in the quarter and trimmed the deficit to 17-6.
• The Hornets were able to get the lead down to 12 with just under 30 seconds to play in the opening quarter before Jackson State used a lay-up near the end of the quarter to extend their lead to 28-14.
• Back-to-back three pointers from Emmanuel and Crawford with 7:20 to play in the half trimmed the deficit to 32-20, followed by a power layup with 6:32 to play in the half kept the deficit at 12 with 6:17 to play (34-22).
• Hannah White (Columbus, Miss.) converted a layup and was fouled on the play with 5:37 to play, forcing a timeout by Jackson State and extending the Alabama State run to 10-2 and trimming the deficit to 34-24. They extended their run with a pass from White to Ward for an easy layup with 4:52 to play in the half (34-26 Jackson State).
• Jackson State was able to answer with three consecutive baskets to extend their lead to 40-26 and forced a timeout Alabama State with 3:48 to play in the half.
• The Hornets were able to get it down to seven with just over a minute left at 42-35 on a Jada Nneji (Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada) layup before back-to-back baskets with under a minute remaining extended the lead to 47-35. The two teams traded baskets in the final seconds for the halftime score of 49-38.

Second Half

• The two teams traded three-pointers to open the second half until Jackson State converted their second consecutive to push the lead back to 16 at 57-41.
• The Hornets trimmed the lead to 14 on a three-pointer from Crawford with just over six minutes to play, to get the deficit down to 60-46.
• Alabama State continued to fight their way into the game, trimming the deficit to 64-52 with 1:37 remaining in the third on an Emmanuel layup – holding Jackson State to just one field goal in seven opportunities during a three-minute stretch.
• The Hornets hit their last three shots of the third quarter to pull to within 13 at 69-56 before a last-second shot by Jackson ended the third.
• The fourth quarter was much the same story as Jackson State had an answer for each run by the Hornets, extending their lead to 20 at one point midway through the quarter before opening things up late.

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