HUNTSVILLE, Ala. &045; You really won’t hear Alcorn women’s head coach Shirley Walker give her take on what happened Saturday night at Alabama State.

&uot;I’m not supposed to say, and I don’t know what to say,&uot; said Walker after her Lady Braves dropped a 70-60 decision at Montgomery Saturday in the first of their two road games in Alabama.

The Lady Braves, who beat Alabama State in Lorman last month, couldn’t do the same Saturday.

&uot;There was a lot of the crowd into the game I thought was &045; I don’t know what word to use because I’m afraid I’ll be fined,&uot; Walker said. &uot;To be honest, I thought we played well. We played well. If we would have made our free throws, I thought we would have won the game. I thought my kids got a little frustrated, but we calmed them down and told them, ‘Play your game.’&uot;

The game was tight throughout, but what may have been a source for argument was the number of fouls called in the game. Alabama State was called for 26 fouls to Alcorn’s 23, and Alcorn leading scorer LaToya Johnson fouled out.

Alabama State’s Crystal Kitt, the big 6-5 force in the middle, was called for four fouls in her 27 minutes on the floor, but she finished the game with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

The two teams shot a combined 55 free throws, but Alcorn missed on 14 of its 37 shots from the line &045; an area that proved more costly than any other stat.

But it’s surprising since the Lady Braves have had games where they almost couldn’t miss. They hit their first 14 two weeks ago at Jackson State.

&uot;You’ve got to make those free throws,&uot; Walker said. &uot;This is something you ought to be able to do, and we didn’t do that. It’s an up-and-down thing. We’re not being consistent with it at all.&uot;

Alcorn’s Candace Roberts, who has improved her play significantly in recent weeks and had the job of guarding Kitt, finished the game with nine points while getting called for just two fouls. Rasaan Powell, the team’s backup post, got called for four fouls in just seven minutes.

&uot;I thought some things happened that made our kids get a little rattled,&uot; Walker said. &uot;But it’s a basketball game, and some of those things will happen.&uot;

The Lady Braves can now hope for a split on the road swing when they visit Alabama A&M.; The Lady Braves sit kind of jammed up in the top half of the standings at 8-6 and tied with Grambling in fourth place behind Jackson State (12-2), Alabama State (10-3) and Southern (10-4).

The Lady Bulldogs enter the game 6-7 in SWAC play.

&uot;A&M plays a tough man to man, and A&M has true 1, 2 and 3 guards,&uot; Walker said. &uot;They can put the ball in the basket behind the 3-point line and around the perimeter. We’ll have our work cut out for us. They can shoot it, and they can score. I wish I had some of them.&uot;