Basketball

Lady Tigers take 2 at home

In a two-game home stand, the Lady Tigers basketball team was able to secure two close wins.

The first was Saturday afternoon against in-state rivals Southern University, with GSU winning 57-56. On Monday night, the Lady Tigers defeated Alcorn State University 64-57.

With the wins, the Lady Tigers balance to 2-2 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play.

Bre’Nae Andrews displayed stellar performances in the last two games, finishing with 17 points, a season high, in 16 minutes against Alcorn and 10 points against Southern.

The Lady Tigers’ leading scorer, Monisha Neal, went for 28 points against South- ern, and had a quiet night against Alcorn, tallying seven points.

However, Neal’s off night was offset by her teammates. Andrews and Shanice Poole were both in double figures. Poole pulled in 16 points, and Yosha Watson finished with nine.

In their first SWAC win against Southern, Andrews’ game-winning layup was the difference-maker. The Lady Tigers trailed 23-20 at halftime, and managed to stay in the game into the final seconds.

With 3:05 remaining in the matchup, Poole hit a key 3-pointer. The Lady Tigers and Jaguars pushed the hardwood, trading baskets. With seconds left, Grambling at- tempted a corner 3-pointer, which ricocheted off the side of the iron. Andrews, the freshman shooting guard from Detroit, snatched the rebound and knocked in the game-winning layup.

Andrews, who is averaging around 8 points this season, is the second leading scorer for the Lady Tigers with a .442 field goal percentage and .377 3-point field goal percentage. She finished with 29 in the two home games.

Kendra Coleman totaled the most for the Lady Jaguars with 14 points. Jasmine Jefferson and Briana Green collected 8 points each. The Jaguars finished ahead in the points around the basket, 16 to 8.

Against Southern, the game was settled in the last four minutes with a 23-10 run. The Lady Braves pushed the Lady Tigers into the bonus early in the half. Grambling went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe in the final minutes. The Lady Tigers also added three clutch 3-pointers to capture their second SWAC victory.  The win against Southern was capped off by the stellar performance of the GSU bench, who outscored the Jaguars 32-17. However, the Lady Braves stole the show in second chance points.

Olivia Brown finished with 17 points for Alcorn, and Norianna Haynes added 10.

The Lady Tigers hope their road trip to Houston on Saturday to face Texas Southern University will result in their third win in SWAC. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. in HPE Arena.