on to clip Grambling

By CHRISTIAN SCHMIDT

LORMAN &045; Maybe Alcorn should give stress reduction classes at halftime of its games &045; Lady Braves fans could probably use them after Monday night’s game.

Alcorn won the game, but it took five extra minutes of play and some stellar bench play, particularly from sophomore center Rasaan Powell, to get the victory.

The Lady Braves (12-7, 8-3) stayed in first place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference with a 70-64 overtime victory over Grambling State (8-13, 6-5) in a game that had seven tie scores, nine lead changes and plenty of excitement.

&uot;I just gave them a big hug,&uot; Alcorn head coach Shirley Walker said. &uot;We came back, and I told them champions would come back.&uot;

Alcorn finally got the win, but the Lady Tigers had a great chance to win the game in regulation.

Alcorn led 54-53 when the Lady Tigers’ Juleen Smith went coast-to-coast and scored on an athletic, leaning layup off the glass as she was fouled. She hit her free throw, putting Grambling up 56-54 with 3:25 to play. Grambling’s Lacey Cormier scored on her team’s next possession to give the Lady Tigers a four-point lead but then missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Alcorn struck back, getting scores from Powell and guard LaToya Johnson, who tied the game with 7.7 seconds left on a short jumper to tie the game at 59 and send it overtime.

&uot;I was nervous, we were making mental mistakes like the game before (a 61-57 loss to Jackson State Saturday),&uot; Powell said. &uot;I was just hoping and praying we could send it to overtime so we could win the game.&uot;

Before Johnson’s shot, Smith had a chance to make it a three-point game but made only one of her two shots.

&uot;We should have won this game,&uot; Grambling head coach David Ponton said. &uot;The kids are down and disappointed that we made mistakes at the end when we could have won it. That was our best free throw shooter that missed one at the end. Against a coach like Shirley Walker in a place like this, you can’t allow it to get to the last few seconds.&uot;

In overtime it was all Lady Braves. Grambling’s Tasha Wilmore hit two free throws to open the scoring in overtime, but Alcorn scored 11 unanswered points, six from the free throw line to seal the game. A 3-pointer by Wilmore with 10.6 seconds to play was too little, too late as the Lady Braves inbounded the ball and ran out the clock for the win.

Powell played so hard she had to be treated for back spasms after the game, but it was worth it. Her 16 points and eight rebounds led the Lady Braves and keyed a 39-point effort from the Alcorn bench in the game, outscoring the Lady Braves starters, who had 31.

&uot;We want to come in as lowerclassmen and play our best,&uot; Powell said. &uot;The seniors believe in what we’re doing, and we want them to start believing in us.&uot;

The Lady Tiger bench scored just four points in the game, despite spending a combined 42 minutes on the floor.

Walker also praised the play of backups guard Tanika Nunez and post LaToya Wily, who had 10 and 11 points respectively.

But she said the game never should have come down to overtime.

&uot;Our game plan was excellent, but for part of the first half we didn’t follow it,&uot; Walker said. &uot;Our plan was to go inside because we knew they were a little foul-prone, but some of our players start coming down and shooting right away.&uot;