Southern edges Alcorn State to remain first

 
The battle for the top spot in the SWAC took place Saturday at the F.G. Clark Activity Center where the Jaguars broke Alcorn State’s three-game winning streak defeating them 67-62.
Although the Jags came through with the “W,” it was not in the fashion fans are used to.
Southern (8-8, 7-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) committed 28 turnovers, 17 of those turnovers came in the first half alone.
“The first half we were excited, we were a little erratic we should have protected the ball better made better passes just slow it down basically,” said SU’s Adrian Sanders, who led the team with seven assists.
Alcorn State (8-13, 6-3 SWAC) took advantage of the Jags miscues, banking in 31 points from turnovers.
“We just have to a better job of processing the game,” said head coach Sandy Pugh after the game.
There were eight total lead changes in the game six of those changes came in the second half of the game.
The momentum of the game was on the side of ASU when Kiara Ruffin — the SWAC leader in minutes played at 36 minutes per game — nailed a jumper for two of her game-high 19 points to the game ate 61-61 with 1:59 left to play.
Southern’s Kendra Coleman missed a jumper that would have given the Jags the lead with 1:10 remaining, but Alcorn’s Carolinisia Crumbly fouled Jasmine Jefferson with 54 seconds left in regulation.
Jefferson made both free throws, giving Southern a 63-61 Southern got key fast break buckets from Lechell Rush and Jefferson in the final seconds to seal the game.
Four Southern players scored in double figures. Jamie Floyd picked up a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Jessica Thomas came off the bench to score 12 points while Coleman and Rush each added 10 points.
The Jags improved their winning streak to three games to end the first round of SWAC play, and will take their show on the road to face rival Grambling State (8-10, 4-4 SWAC) Saturday at 2 p.m.