MONTGOMERY, AL -- Southern Lady Jaguars out scored Alabama State 29-27 to close out the second half and hold off Alabama State 60-56 at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
Sophomore Genovea Johnson led Southern with 20 points. She was 6-of-11 (66%) for the field. Senior Nakia Kincey finished the night with 17 points along with a team-high six rebounds. Amani Mcwain Chipped in nine points and four rebounds.
Southern entered tonight's contest after an eight day layoff due to Covid-19 quarantine/contact tracing protocols at Alabama A&M. The Jags headed into the locker room with a two point lead, 31-29.
"We came out with a lot of energy from the opening tip. We knew that this was going to be a tough, physical basketball game for four quarters. Winning games like this on the road gives a team the confidence it takes to compete for a championship. Tonight's win was truly a team effort and we will continue to work to get better. We have a big game against Alcorn State Saturday so we will return to practice on Wednesday getting ready for them.",said Head Coach Carlos Funchess.
The start of the second half was very similar to the first, as Johnson drives to the basket picking up a foul and going to the line hitting 1-of-2 from the charity stripe giving the Lady Jaguars 32-29 lead with 9:42 left to play in the third quarter. Going back and fourth for the remainder of the quarter, with the Lady Jags closing out the third quarter out scoring the Lady Hornets 12-11. Alabama State wouldn't go away, as they traded baskets back and forth with Southern, SU closed out the game shooting 5-of-9 from the free throw line sealing the victory 60-56.
The Lady Jaguars defense forced the Lady Hornets to 19 turnovers, picking up 19 points off turnovers. SU played all ten players with eight landing in the scoring column. Southern shot 41 percent for the game (22-54) and 13 percent from behind the arc (1-8). SU shot 60 percent from the charity stripe finishing (15-25).
Shmya Ward finished the night with 20 points and nine rebounds leading the Lady Hornets in scoring in 30 minutes of play. Ayanna Emmanuel added another 18 points along with nine rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Lady Jaguars will be back in action on Saturday, January 30th at Alcorn State University. Tip-off is slated for 1 PM.
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