All this excitement is forcing Natasha Dennis to have a change of heart. The junior out of Woodville was toying with the idea of not returning for her senior season at Alcorn since she’s expecting to graduate either in May or during the summer.

The team even gave her a sendoff on Senior Night with the team’s actual seniors just before the regular season ended.

But a funny thing happened &045;the Lady Braves kept on winning, and they find themselves in the NCAA Tournament today up against No. 1-seeded Michigan State.

When things are going this good, why walk away?

&uot;I think I’m going to give them another year,&uot; said Dennis, a computer networking major. &uot;My parents are on me. They want to see me play another year. We’ve got a chance to put Alcorn on the map (today), and that’s what we’re trying to do. Just being in the tournament is great.

&uot;We’re not afraid of anyone. We’re capable of beating anyone if we play our best and hardest and solid on defense.&uot;

The 16th-seeded Lady Braves are indeed the underdog today in Minneapolis when they meet up with the Spartans, Big Ten champs in both the tournament and the regular season. The odds are way stacked against Alcorn &045; schools from the Southwestern Athletic Conference have yet to win in the NCAA Tournament in 13 tries.

But a 16th seed has won before in the women’s tournament. The Lady Braves sure would like to be the second to do it and the first SWAC team to win.

Tipoff is at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

&uot;I feel like there’s a lot to be done,&uot; senior LaToya Johnson said. &uot;We’re not content with what we have. I didn’t expect to be a 16th seed, but I did expect we wouldn’t get much respect being a small school. We go in every game as if they’re beatable, and they haven’t had a perfect season. If we go out and execute the game plan, I believe we can take it.&uot;

That’s the attitude every lower seed takes on this stage, and everyone loves an underdog &045; no matter where you’re from. The Lady Braves enter their third NCAA Tournament playing well after getting through the SWAC tournament with wins over Texas Southern, Grambling and Southern last week.

Michigan State is awfully good, but the Lady Braves believe in themselves and like the way they’re playing.

&uot;Hopefully we’ll be able to come up with something and work hard to have a chance,&uot; Alcorn head coach Shirley Walker said. &uot;Anybody is beatable. I’m a person to do a lot of observing of my players. I’ve watched their attitudes, and I’ve watched their emotions. We’ve been in situations like this before.&uot;

Today’s game could be a matchup of post games as both teams like to go inside for points. The Lady Braves will go into 5-11 Tnonealyer Powers, 5-11 Candace Roberts and 6-2 Rasaan Powell for a majority of their offense, and the Spartans will do the same with 6-4 Kelli Roehrig and 6-1 Liz Shimek.

State led the Big Ten with 41.2 boards per game. Alcorn was second in the SWAC with 39.4

&uot;Our post game was executing (in the SWAC championship),&uot; Dennis said. &uot;That was the best game they’ve ever played. They really stepped it up and helped us out a lot. We have a couple of game films on (MSU), and we’re trying to get prepared for them. We played Alabama State, and they’ve got a 6-5. We’re not really worried about the height.&uot;

The Lady Braves had big contributions from their guard play during the tournament with Shikhia Sims, Johnson and Tanika Nunez coming up big to keep opposing teams from keying on the inside game.

The perimeter may be a pivotal factor today, too &045; Michigan State is awfully balanced and has hurt people in a number of ways this season. Lindsay Bowen has nailed 66 3-pointers this season, while the Lady Braves have hit just 76.

&uot;Everybody is stepping up and doing what the team needs,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;Our post players are hitting layups, and our guards are hitting shots and making the correct passes. Our defense is always our starting point. Our defense is what gets our offense going. If we go out there with a good defensive presence, it’s going to be hard to beat us.&uot;

Regardless of matchups, Walker likes her club’s chances just for its makeup. The Lady Braves are experienced and battle-tested, even though today’s game is the first NCAA appearance for everyone.

The team won 20 games for the first time since 2000-01 when the Lady Braves got in the tournament as a No. 16 seed and lost to Notre Dame, 98-49.

That’s why this experienced club isn’t shying away from today’s opponent. The Lady Braves won’t care about Big Ten champions, the big school or anything else.

It could be much, much worse &045; they could be at home today watching the game on TV.

&uot;We’re not going up there just to get to play,&uot; Dennis said. &uot;We’ve got to handle our business. We’ve got to go up there, play hard, execute and play good defense. We’ve got to come together as one and play like we played in the tournament.&uot;