Isler’s Double-Double Not Enough for Alcorn on Opening Night

Isler’s Double-Double Not Enough for Alcorn on Opening Night https://t.co/UlhnlbgN7h

— Alcorn Sports (@BRAVESSPORTS) November 7, 2018

LORMAN, Mississippi -- In her first appearance in an Alcorn State University women's basketball uniform, junior Toddriana Isler registered a double-double, but Lane College finished on top 70-58 in the season-opener Tuesday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.

Isler, who is one of eight newcomers on the roster, poured in a game-high of 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. She also got her hands on four steals.

Junior Jada Hargrove turned in a solid all-around effort for Alcorn (0-1) with 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Junior Charisma Walker neared a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds.

The game was very tightly contested until midway through the fourth quarter when Lane (1-0) was able to leap ahead and take a double-figure advantage. Hannah Porchia paved the way with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The Lady Braves got off to a slow start as Lane scored the first eight points in the game. Alcorn got on the board with a lay-up by Hargrove, but the Lady Dragons stayed ahead 16-7 at the end of the first quarter on a last-second three-pointer by Addie McNeely.

Alcorn came out of the gates hot in the second and quickly tied the game with a 9-0 run which included a long-range shot from Hargrove. A lay-up by Isler kept it even at 27-27, but Lane's Alexis Harris scored on the team's final possession of the half to give the Lady Dragons a 29-27 edge at the break.

The Lady Dragons were getting to the free throw line in the third and built a 39-32 advantage before the Lady Braves again made a push. Four free throws from senior De'Asia Brown cut the deficit to 45-42, and a lay-up by Walker kept the score within three at 49-46 heading into the fourth.

Alcorn was down just 54-51 at the 6:47 mark when the Lady Dragons went on a decisive 9-0 run to catapult ahead to a 63-51 lead with just 2:35 remaining. Lane's largest lead 69-55 came after a pair of free throws by Lequita Callaway.

Alcorn had a cold shooting night as the team went 20-for-68 (.294) from the field and 1-for-15 (.067) from three-point range.

The Lady Braves will look to bounce back Saturday when they travel to UTEP for a 7 p.m. tip.

BOX SCORE

NOTES
- It was the first-ever meeting between Alcorn and Lane.

- The Lady Braves are now 2-2 in home-openers under head coach Courtney G. Pruitt.

- Hargrove posted her sixth career double-figure scoring game. Her five assists matched a career-high.

- With Isler's big night, the Lady Braves have seen a student-athlete notch a double-double 10 times over the last two seasons.

Quoting Alcorn head coach Courtney G. Pruitt
Opening Statement
"We had the opportunities to win tonight. I can't say that we're not upset, because we are very upset and disappointed about the loss. When you have eight new players, you're trying to get them to gel, and it's a tough thing when everybody is new. We're trying to balance different lineups - we came out with new starters in the second half than we did in the first. Shooting 29 percent from the floor didn't help. Nevertheless, we're optimistic and we see the bright spots that we have and we just have to get better."

On the ball just not going Alcorn's way tonight
"There were a ton of 50-50 balls that we couldn't get our hands on, and there were also a lot of turnovers that we caused that we didn't capitalize on. Instead, we'd either turn it right back over or we took a bad shot. Those are learning curves that we have to fix. Hats off to Lane College because they were very aggressive and played a great game. I was happy that our girls did not give up and played their hardest all the way until the final buzzer. Still, we've got a long way to go and a lot of work to do."

On Isler's double-double
"Toddrianna is a junior college All-American and she knows her way around the basketball court. She's going to play her heart out every night but we just have to make sure others are getting the ball as well. I felt that Jada came in and did a great job tonight, but we still didn't have enough from our bench. A couple players had poor shooting nights, but we just have to keep working and improve."

ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY BRAVES ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS