MONTGOMERY, Ala – The Southern University Jaguars came into the Dunn-Oliver Acadome to face the undefeated Alabama State University Hornets in a very competitive contest. The Jaguars would end up winning the game 60-56, giving the Hornets their first loss of the season. 

The game was very tight through the first three quarters, but the 4th quarter is where the Jaguars took control. The Jaguars were aggressive coming into the final quarter, causing ASU to turn the ball over and scoring 3 straight layups while also getting fouled on all three possessions resulting in several and one opportunities for them to widen their lead and gain more momentum. 

The Jaguars had their largest lead of ten points with 3:53 left in the game and it looked like the Hornets were down for the count. That was until the ASU women began to rally with a couple of defensive stops and offensive baskets. They would cut the score to two with 27.5 left, much to the delight of the electric home crowd. 

The Hornets would be unable to complete the comeback as a charging foul was called on Jayla Crawford in the final few seconds with the Hornets down three points. This foul would send the Jaguars to the free-throw line to ice the game. 

Both teams had two standout performers each leading the pack for their respective teams. For Southern, it was Genovea Johnson who finished with 20 points and 4 rebounds, and Nakia Kincey with 17 points and 6 rebounds. ASU’s Shmya Ward and Ayanna Emmanuel finished with 20 points and 18 points respectively while also tallying 9 rebounds each. Ward recorded 4 impressive and impactful blocks as well. 

ASU lost this game due to their costly turnovers and missed opportunities at easy scores. They look to clean those issues up in their next game versus Grambling State on Jan. 27.