Lady Hornet Basketball Outlast Mobile
The Alabama State University women’s basketball team used two runs to pull away and hand the Rams a 69-57 loss, Tuesday night at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
“It was a game that we knew would be evenly matched,” head coach Freda Freeman-Jackson said. “They played South Alabama and went into double overtime so we expected it to be a challenge.”
The Lady Hornets came out on the offense by scoring the first points of the game. Jamesha Blake led the Lady Hornets with 12 points and six rebounds, while Quentori Alford had six rebounds and two points. The Lady Hornets led 17-8 with 8:18 left in the 1st half. Over the next four minutes the Lady Hornets increased their lead to 26-12 and held the Lady Rams to just four points at the 4:18 mark.
The Lady Hornets (3-1) held a 28-16 lead to start the second half, but the Rams did not allow themselves to stay behind too long. Mobile (2-2) fought back but ASU again expanded their lead by 19 points 59-40 with 6:28remaining in the contest.
“I was disappointed that we let a 22 point lead get away from us, stated Freeman-Jackson. “We really have to be able to, not only hold the lead but be able to increase the lead also. Defensively we got away from our game and let them (Rams) score 41 points.”
Alabama State shot 48 percent from the floor, and shooting 67 percent from the charity stripe going 8-12.
Jamesha Blake led all scorers with 22 points, and was one of two Lady Hornets with double-digit figures, while Nakiya Smith had 14 points. Alford led on the boards, pulling down 11 rebounds for ASU.
“Blake played hard,” Freeman-Jackson said. “I was impressed by her efforts in tonight’s game. I was glad to see her catch fire and step up.”
Alabama State will return to action Wednesday, December 4, at 6 p.m. when Samford University travels to Montgomery.
Lady Hornets Soccer Receives Academic Award
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) has released its Team Academic Award winners for the 2012-13 academic year, and for the 6th consecutive season the Alabama State Women’s soccer team made the list.
The Lady Hornets posted a 3.34 team GPA, to earn the NSCAA Team Academic Award, a program must carry a team GPA of 3.0 or higher.
“This is the type of award that all coaches are proud of, especially me,” Head Coach Jodie Smith said. “We always want to recruit and retain quality student-athletes that are successful on the field as well as in the classroom. I am very proud of how hard our team works on both.”
The 2013 Lady Hornets finished with a record of 14-7 overall and 7-0 in SWAC play marking the highest win total in the history of the program also winning their 1st Eastern Division Championship. ASU defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Prairie View A&M to reach the SWAC Tournament Championship game, another first in team history. Unfortunately the team wasn’t able to complete this historical season as they lost to Jackson State in the championship game.
Sweeping the SWAC post season honors with Aaliyah Lewis winning Offensive Player of the Year, Kylee Hathaway named Defensive Player of the Year and Ariela Lewis the Freshman of the Year. Other Lady Hornets who were recognized are, Alexandria Cannon, Anastasia McCleary and Iita Pienimaki on the SWAC 1st Team and Samantha Bruno was named to the SWAC 2ndTeam.
