Alcorn State saw its season come to an end Saturday afternoon as the Braves fell 73-65 to South Alabama in the opening round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament in Lorman.
Alcorn State finished the 2025-26 campaign with a 17-14 record, while South Alabama is now 17-18 and advances to face Purdue Fort Wayne in the WNIT second round on Monday.
Kiarra Henderson paced the Braves with 17 points, marking her 18th double-digit scoring game of the season. Nakia Cheatham added 16 points and 14 rebounds for her team-leading 10th double-double, along with a game-high four blocked shots.
Maya Hunkin-Claytor, who was honored pregame for setting the program’s three-point record, scored six points and went 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Dalayja Hurt-Floyd added five assists for Alcorn.
Leading the way for South Alabama was Cordasia Harris with 20 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks. Tamara Ortiz (14 points, seven rebounds) and Diawna Carter-Hartley (10 points, nine rebounds) also had impressive outings.
It was a tight contest early, featuring four led changes and four ties in the opening quarter before South Alabama took a 17-12 lead into the second. Alcorn briefly grabbed its largest lead of the half at 24-20, but a late surge by the Jags helped South Alabama carry a 34-29 advantage into halftime.
South Alabama outscored Alcorn 39-26 in the second half and built its largest lead of the game at 11 points midway through the fourth quarter. The Braves responded with a pair of three-pointers but were unable to cut the deficit to fewer than six down the stretch.
Missed opportunities at the free-throw line proved costly for Alcorn, which went 12-for-23 from the charity stripe. The team also missed 16 shots in the paint. South Alabama capitalized on turnovers, converting Braves miscues into 26 points compared to 11 points off turnovers for Alcorn.