JACKSON &045; Alcorn post Candace Roberts made a game-saving grab of an errant inbounds pass with 18 seconds left to help Lady Braves hold on for a 57-55 upset of first-place Jackson State on Saturday.

Holding just a one-point lead with 20 seconds left, Alcorn’s inbounds pass was meant for LJ, but Johnson lost footing and the ball rolled toward the out-of-bounds line in front of the scorer’s table.

However, Roberts laid out, engulfed the ball and called timeout, all in one motion. On the ensuing inbounds play, Roberts was fouled and made the front end of a pair of freebies with 17 seconds left.

&uot;That was the tunring point in the game. If they had gotten it, they were going to try and score,&uot; Roberts said. &uot;We let them come back in the game, but it’s a great win for us. It really was a good win.&uot;

Lady Tiger Shelita Burns fired a 3-pointer attempt prior to the final buzzer; however, the shot rimmed out.

Up 11 at halftime, the Lady Braves watched Jackson State’s woman in the middle, Amie Williams, ignited a Lady Tigers’ comeback with 12 of her team’s 25 points in the first 12 minutes of the second half, including a free-throw line jumper with 8:09 remaining to tie it up at 46.

&uot;The first 20 minutes we just got outhustled,&uot; JSU head coach Denice Taylor said.

However, the Lady Braves did the job on WiIlliams the rest of the way, allowing the 6-7 post only four free throws, thanks to the play of Roberts and Alcorn’s other post players.

&uot;Candace is coming around for us these last three games,&uot; Alcorn head coach Shirley Walker said. &uot;She’s really doing some things we’ve been trying to get her to do. We’ve been pushing her against the wall to do some things she needs to do.

&uot;I’m proud of all of them.&uot;

The Lady Braves took a 30-15 lead with 1:22 remaining in the first on an Alicia Gardner bucket. The Lady Tigers were able to close the gap to 32-21 heading to the locker rooms, but Gardner hit a triple a little more than two minutes in to the second half for a 37-24 lead.