MONTGOMERY, Ala – Mississippi Valley State women's game was unable to close out the Lady Hornets down the stretch falling 73-67, to Alabama State Monday night in the Dunn-Oliver Acadome. Senior Kristy Parker led four Devilettes in double-figure scoring with 16 points and a team-high six rebounds.
MVSU (4-18, 3-8 SWAC) held a 71 percent (20-28) to 53 percent (15-28) advantage in free throw shooting against the Lady Hornets recording their second most free throws of the season, 20 made. ASU (9-1, 8-3 SWAC) shot 46 percent (22-54) from the field and 38 percent (8-21) from three-point range in contrast to MVSU's 29 percent (21-71) field goal percentage and 22 percent (5-22) from beyond the arc. The teams split the season- series each winning at home.
Senior Makayla Bonner scored 13 points her conference season-high total leading the MVSU bench while senior Erin Smith also had 13 points hitting a pair of three-pointers.
Freshman Sydnie Ward had her fifth double-digit scoring game of the season with 10 points also knocking down a pair of three-point field goal attempts.
Senior LaKendra Basset's free throw at the 3:24 mark in the fourth quarter gave MVSU a 67-60 advantage late in the ball game. Then the Lady Hornets went on an 8-0 run and after a pair of made free throws by Ayana Emmanuel with 40-seconds left reclaimed a 68-67 lead. The Devilettes went cold down the stretch missing three shot attempts and a pair of free throws. ASU converted on 3-of-4 attempts from the charity stripe in the final 34-seconds and a layup by Emmanuel sealed the Devilettes fate, 73-67.
Parker scored in double-figures for the 14
th time this year carrying the load for the Devilettes scoring 12 points and grabbing four rebounds in the second half. Bonner powered
MVSU through the first half scoring 11 points on 5-of-7 made field goals.
Jayla Crawford scored a team-high 16 points for the Lady Hornets. Taylor Aikerson added 15 points and Emmanuel finished with 13 points.
MVSU will host Alcorn State in their next game on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 2:00 p.m.