The Lady Hornets started the week off welcoming the Texas Southern University Lady Tigers to Dunn-Oliver Acadome Monday, Jan. 23, 2023.
With a constant game of back and forth throughout the first to fourth quarter, the Hornets came out victorious with an 81-73 triumph over the Texas Southern Tigers.
Starting off the game, Texas Southern took a first quarter leading of 11-6 until senior guard Jayla Crawford, 3, scored a 3-pointer for the Hornets, tying the score 11-11.
The Hornets closed out the first quarter on a 5-0 run taking a 21-17 lead.
In the second quarter, the Lady Tigers made a 6-0 run to tie at 23-23 with 42, Skye Green making a jump shot at the 8:00 mark.
Even with the Tigers catching up, that did not stop Crawford. She made her second three-pointer to give Alabama State a 32-27 lead with 5:42 remaining in the second quarter.
Sophomore guard Brazyll Watkins, 13, hit a three-pointer bank shot and, after getting fouled on the play, converted the free throw to give Alabama State a 43-39 lead.
In the third quarter, when the teams were tied 45-45, the Lady Hornets went on a 14-2 run to build on 59-47 with senior guard Ayana Emmanuel, making a three-pointer with 4:40 left.
The Tigers went on a run of their own to close out the third quarter, outscoring the Hornets 12-2 and with the score at 61-58.
Texas Southern did not stop there. In the final fourth quarter, the Lady Tigers took a 64-63 lead with a little over 7:00 minutes left in the game.
The Lady Hornets relied on their physicality in getting to the free throw line and converting 11-of-14 free throws giving them the 81-73 victory.
Throughout the whole game, there were four players that scored in double figures.
Emmanuel led the Hornets with 20 points and eight rebounds. Crawford had 19 points on six-of-10 shooting from the floor. Ward scored 15 points and obtained seven rebounds, and Cordasia Harris, 20, scored 13 points while going 6-of-7 from the field.
For the Lady Tigers, Adrianna Avant led the team with 31 points going 11-of-19 from the floor, which included five of her three-pointers.
The Lady Hornets ended the game with a 4-0 undefeated SWAC win at home, 5-2 in the SWAC and an 8-10 overall.