Women’s Basketball Falls In Overtime To Alcorn State

A pair of missed short jumpers at the end of regulation and a disappointing performance in overtime spelled doomsday for the Texas Southern University women’s basketball team in a 76-67 loss to Alcorn State on Saturday afternoon in the H&PE Arena.

Skye Green missed her attempt at the game winning shot with five seconds left then Andriana Avent grabbed the offensive rebound and got off a tough shot from close range with two seconds to go that clanked off the rim.

Alcorn State (5-10, 1-3 SWAC) would then get hot in overtime outscoring TSU (1-15, 1-4 SWAC) 12-3 to take home the victory. Cayla Obillo helped ASU to jump out to a 10-point lead in overtime with eight points herself in the 10-0 run to blow the game open in the extra stanza.

Obillo would finish the contest with 15 points from her point guard position.

TSU would trail for a combined 33:26 of the game and lead for just 8:05.

Micah Gray had another strong outing with 27 points, four rebounds, two assists and a block, but the freshman was not part of the crew that had a chance to win the game due to the stringent defense the Lady Braves coaching staff issued during the final timeout.

Trailing 23-16 at the end of the first quarter, TSU opened the second period with an 11-1 run to take a 27-24 lead thanks to a pair of layups from Taniya Lawson and a pair of made threes from Avent that were sandwiched around a free throw from Jaida Belton. ASU’s Kiarra Henderson answered with a layup before Gray blasted a deep three with 6:20 left before halftime to give the Tigers what proved to be their largest lead of the game.

Both teams struggled to pull away from the other during the third quarter and turned the bout into a free throw fest in the fourth quarter as both teams combined to go 17-for-24 including a fantastic 13-for-16 from the charity stripe out of the Tigers to keep themselves in the game.

TSU looked to be headed toward a win after Gray drained four free throws and Bates made a layup that was assisted by Gray to turn a three-point deficit into a three-point lead and have all the momentum going for them. The momentum quickly evaporated as soon as it was formed thanks to consecutive possessions that ended with made threes from ASU’s Zy’Nyia White and Tyginae Wright for a 58-55 Lady Braves advantage. A see-saw battle ensued until the final possession in regulation for the Tigers and then the unfortunate lack of offense in the overtime period.

Avent finished with 13 points for the Tigers while Lawson joined the double-figure scorers. Belton’s performance on the boards once again should be highlighted as she had a team-high nine rebounds. White led the lad for the Lady Braves with 21 points while Obillo used her overtime scoring outburst to complete the 15-point, 10-rebound double-double performance to go along with six assists and a pair of steals.
 
UP NEXT
The Tigers will look to bounce back on Monday in the H&PE Arena to close out the weekend series when Jackson State comes to town after dropping its first loss to a SWAC opponent in the regular season since Jan. 4, 2021, after Prairie View A&M downed the Tigers 69-65. Tipoff in the Battle of the Tigers will be 5:30 p.m. CST live on HBCU Go.