Bitter Taste: Lady Jags suffer hard fought loss

Southern University women’s basketball fell short 85-74 to the Lady Braves on Saturday, February 27 in Lorman, Mississippi losing the game 74-85 on the road to tournament alley.
Unfortunately, Alcorn swamped their five game win streak on the road to prominence called the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship.
Southern (12-4, 15-10) was intent to hold onto their record due to only losing three games this season in conference play.
Alcorn (7-9, 9-17) picked up a most costly win by toppling one of the top contenders in the conference.
Although the Braves lost to Southern in their previous meeting a month ago, they played with much intensity this game that the Lady Jaguars just couldn’t seem to match. Alcorn State started with an 8-0 run while Southern worked hard to play catch up.
SU did exactly just that, ending the first quarter leading by one point (19-18). The Lady Braves answered right back with a 7-2 run to start the second quarter.
The third quarter became the deafening part for Southern as the pesky Lady Braves 34-25 after a free throw shot by Henrietta Wells.
Although Southern only trailed by nine points at the half, the deficit increased to as many as 22 points. Southern scored 32 points in the fourth quarter alone in their efforts to try to make a comeback, but were ultimately too late. The Lady Jaguars suffered a lost by a 11 point deficit.
“We didn’t have any intensity whatsoever from start to finish,” said forward Briana Green, whose performance mirrored that of the team as she scored 21 of her 25 points during a frenzied fourth-quarter attempt to overcome an 18-point deficit.
Southern had three players end up in double digits categories: Green rallied for the Jaguars, finishing the game with 25 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals. 6-foot post, Miaya Crowder added 14 points while junior guard Cortnei Purnell added 11 points to the total.
Alcorn’s Norianna Haynes finished the game with the highest point addition 32 points and 10 rebounds. Some other mentionable players include freshman Brianna Tolliver ended the game with 19 points and six assists while Jazmin Strane scored 10 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.
Haynes leads the SWAC right now in scoring (20.5) and rebounds (9.5)
“We were lazy on defense,” coach Sandy Pugh said. “We just stood and watched them do what they do. You’re going to get beat when you give up that many point blank.”
Southern now has a record of 12-4 in the SWAC. Their last two conference games will take place on their home court at the F.G. Clark Activity Center located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The Lady Jaguars will host first place team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Texas Southern on Thursday March 3, 2016.