Jackson State women take SWAC title with 21st straight win
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Miya Crump scored 22 points to lead six Jackson State players in double figures and the top-seeded Lady Tigers rolled to the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament title with a 101-80 win over third-seeded Alabama State on Saturday for their nation-leading 21st straight win.
Crump was 8-of-11 shooting with five steals and Dayzsha Rogan added 17 points, five assists and four steals. Ameshya Williams-Holliday, the SWAC’s player of the year, had 14 points and nine rebounds. Keshuna Luckett, LaMiracle Sims and Jariyah Covington had 11 points each as Jackson State (23-6) shot 58%.
“They never thought that they wasn’t going to win,” Jackson State coach Tomekia Reed said. “We had a night last night where they just wanted to rest. They didn’t want to read a scouting report. They didn’t want to watch film. They said ‘Coach, we got it.’”
Ayana Emmanuel scored 26 points, Jayla Crawford had 22 and Shmya Ward 14 for the Lady Hornets (15-15), who shot 48%.
Jackson State has the nation’s longest active win streak heading into the NCAA Tournament after going 18-0 in winning the regular-season title by five games then sweeping three tournament matchups. Pac-12 champion Stanford has won 20 straight.
The Lady Tigers edged the Lady Hornets 67-66 in last year’s title game but dominated this season’s two meetings, winning 79-52 on Jan. 8.
Jackson State led by double figures the entire second half. A 3-pointer by Rogan with 2:43 left gave Jackson State its largest lead of 24 points.
An 11-point halftime lead grew to 19 during the third quarter after Rogan hit a couple of 3-pointers, and it was 71-56 heading into the final period.
Williams-Holliday went to the bench with her second foul early in the second quarter with the Lady Tigers leading by 12. The Lady Hornets took advantage with Williams-Holliday not defending the hoop, getting within seven before Covington scored five points in a 7-2 half-ending run to lead 49-38.
Jackson State has won 37 straight over SWAC opponents, including tournament and regular-season games.
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