LORMAN &045; Shirley Walker has been very pointed about her team’s recent Southwestern Athletic Conference performances.

Alcorn struggled mightily with its killer instinct in two road losses in Alabama last Saturday and Monday, sometimes handing the win to both Alabama State and A&M, respectively.

The Lady Braves were put in familiar territory on Saturday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex against Southern, as both teams played lethargic throughout.

However this time out, it was apparent Alcorn learned from its past errors, persevering to a vital SWAC win, 57-52, over the third-place Lady Jaguars.

&uot;We’ve got a long ways to go and a short time to get there,&uot; Walker said. &uot;We can’t look around and expect things to happen for us. We’ve played enough games to where if we can eliminate the turnovers, make our free throws and layups, we’ll have nothing to worry about.&uot;

The Lady Braves (11-14, 9-7) plunged a dagger into the hearts of Southern (12-12, 10-6) when Shikhia Sims buried her fifth 3-pointer of the evening, doubling the Alcorn lead to 53-47 with 1:43 remaining.

&uot;We went inside to the post where Southern collapsed on us,&uot; Sims said, describing the pivotal field goal. &uot;I knew I had to get to an open spot. I just knocked down the shot. I felt like when it went in, we’d win.&uot;

Sims, a 34 percent shooter from long range for the season, led the Lady Braves with career highs in points (19) and treys made (5). All but one of Sims’ made field goals came from beyond the arc.

&uot;After the first couple of shots, I really felt good,&uot; she said. &uot;We knew our posts were going to get doubled, and as long as they knew where I was, we were going to be all right.&uot;

Rolanda Monroe, who led all scorers with 22 points, gave Southern hope when she buried a trey with 41 ticks left to cut the deficit in half. But Sims made of both her 1-and-1 chances with 22 seconds to seal the Lady Jags’ fate.

The game was plagued by careless ball management and poor shots, as evident by the two teams combining for 41 turnovers and a 41 field goal shooting percentage.

&uot;I think we had a point-guard meltdown tonight,&uot; Southern head coach Sandy Pugh said. &uot;We didn’t have anybody in control. Down the stretch, you have to make plays, and we just threw the ball away.&uot;

Southern, which led 30-27 at the break, quickly surrendered its lead in the first five minutes of the second half with six rapid turnovers.

Sims pumped fake twice before nailing a jumper to put the Lady Braves up 37-32 with 14:12 left in the contest.

&uot;(Sims) played well at the beginning, but then I think she hurt us with a couple of turnovers,&uot; Walker said of her junior point guard. &uot;She bounced back, though. She knows the system.

I think (the 3-pointer at the end) broke everybody’s back. That gave us momentum.&uot;

Candace Roberts, who finished with 14 points for Alcorn, powered up off a rebound to keep it at a five-point margin at the 12:52 mark.

Monroe’s one-woman show continued when she tossed the ball around her back, spun away from a defender and the pull-up six-footer fell for her, cutting the gap to four. A possession later, the sophomore guard was perfect on a trip the foul line, bringing Southern within a deuce, 42-40, with 10:14 left.

&uot;We knew we needed this win,&uot; Sims said. &uot;After those road losses, we had to recoup, so we practiced hard all this week.&uot;

Sims’ fourth triple of the night at the 8:03 mark of the second half ended a nearly five-minute field goal drought and gave the Lady Braves their biggest lead of the game, 47-40, to that point.

Minutes later, Monroe had consecutive defensive possessions where she stepped in front errant Alcorn passes and fought her way downcourt for a pair of layups, pulling the Lady Jags to within a bucket, 49-47, with 3:23 left.

&uot;We’ve gotta play basketball, and play for ourselves and not the crowd,&uot; Walker said. &uot;We’ve gotta focus on what we need to do on the floor and not in the stands. That’s one thing that’s real stressful to the coaches and the team. We’re still getting steady turnovers from people we look to.&uot;

The opening 20 minutes didn’t break any records &045; not the good kind, at least.

The only bright spot in the first half for Alcorn was Sims, who buried her first three treys, the last two of which put the Lady Braves back out in front.