HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Alabama State Lady Hornets basketball team will take on intra-state rival Alabama A&M Saturday as the race continues to stay in the top spot of the league.
“With this win, it’ll keep us at the top and that is where we want to stay,” said head women’s basketball coach Freda Freeman-Jackson. “What we need to do is stay focused, do what we can and control what we can to win. We have a goal set and if we keep that in mind then it’s obtainable.”
The game represents a battle of schools that go way beyond just basketball. Saturday’s game is just not Alabama State versus Alabama A&M; it’s a fight for rights in the SWAC.
The Lady Hornets are coming off a 62-45 road win over Mississippi Valley. Four of Alabama State players scored in double figures, Brittney Wright, Kayla Tucker and Jasmine Peeples each chipped in 12 points apiece, while Daniele Ewert paced a strong performance with 11 points and eight rebounds.
“We played well against Valley,” Freeman-Jackson said. “In order to win against Alabama A&M, we will have to continue the style of play that we did against UAPB and Valley. We played defense and that was the determining factor of our wins. We have to come in tomorrow’s game on top and focused.”
Tip between Alabama State (7-7, 3-1 SWAC) and Alabama A&M (3-12, 2-2 SWAC) is slated for 4 p.m. in the T.M. Elmore gym in what promises to be another key match-up for each team.
“AAMU is a much improved team from last year and everyone needs to forget all about what happened on last year,” said Freeman-Jackson. “They have been playing extremely hard and what’s probably going to cause us the most problems, is that AAMU play with four guards. They play small and it’s going to be hard for my bigs to chase behind those young ladies. We are going to have to play a lot of zone and make sure that we keep them in front of us.”
Live stats and web streaming of the contest can be accessed at bamastatesports.com Game Day central. All games can be heard online at bamastatesports.com/showcase or on the free mobile app for android or IPhone devices.
The meeting between these two teams will be the 48th meeting in the all-time series. The Lady Hornets lead the series 27-20 and are 11-9 all-time versus the Bulldogs in Huntsville. The last time the two clubs met during the regular season at the T.M. Elmore Gym, ASU walked away with an 81-60 win.
Back to back SWAC players of the week sophomore forward Brittney Wright (14.4) and center Jasmine Peeples (11.9) are leading the team in scoring. Peeples amassed her fifth double-double of the season in the game against Miss. Valley scoring 15 points and 10 rebounds in the contest. Graduate student Brittney Strickland of Alabama A&M is averaging 13.7 points per game and leads the club with assists (3.1) and steals (2.0). Shamyia Brooks leads the team in rebounding averaging 7.2 rpg.
“They have a returning player that gets to free throw line pretty frequently and she scored 23 points against UAPB. We are going to make sure that we limit her touches and keep her out of the lane. There is another young lady that’s averaging 19 points a game so whenever you have a player averaging that many points you need to be able to limit them touching the ball as much as possible. We have our work cut out for us, but if we do what we need to do on the defensive end then we should win the ball game.”
As a team, Alabama State leads the SWAC in scoring defense (61.9), field-goal percentage defense (.360), blocks (5.9), 3-point field goal percentage (.307), rebounding offense (45.6) and defensive rebounds (31.2). The Hornets are pulling down 45.6 boards per game, including 31.2 on the defensive glass. Along with Wright, three other players also rank in the top 18 of the SWAC in rebounding – Peeples (9.7 – first), Mayo Miracle (6.0 – T11th) and Ewert (5.3 – T18th).
“This is going to be a test for us as far as keeping the momentum that we have now,” said Freeman-Jackson. “We have been putting up the numbers, but we must keep our focus so that we can do what we are supposed to do. Our plan is to stay focused and play defense and hopefully offensively it will all come together.”
