LORMAN &045; She’s got a set of pearly whites and an angelic face that could buckle your knees quicker than a Marvin Hagler combination.

She talks often about her family back in Bienville, La., waxes glowingly of spending weekends around piles and piles of nieces and nephews, and her Southwestern Athletic Conference rivals respect her &045; perhaps the ultimate compliment in sports.

But that does not mean Scherwanda Boston has many friends outside of her teammates. And you also cannot assume Boston is as sweet as she looks.

Put a rock in her hand and some tape around her ankles, and she quickly transforms into a stone-faced killer.

Her 34 points, two shy of a career high, helped No. 5 Grambling State dispose of fourth-seeded Alcorn State 81-77 in double overtime during the 2004 SWAC tournament opener Wednesday.

&uot;If we’re going to keep going, I’ve gotta play like this each time,&uot; said Boston of Grambling, which made four consecutive appearances in the NCAA in 1996-99. &uot;The SWAC competition is only going to get better as every day goes by. It’s going to take a team playing at its best to win this championship.&uot;

Her team was at its best during a second half stretch that saw them claw back from a 39-27 deficit with 17 minutes left.

The Lady Tigers shot 56 percent from the field during the second, or 26 percent higher than a first half that saw them make only 10 field goals. Grambling also held Alcorn to 10 baskets in the final 20 minutes, or 40 percent, well below the Lady Braves’ 54 percent shooting during the first.

&uot;To win a tournament game against Coach Walker, that’s a feat,&uot; Lady Tigers head coach Rusty Ponton said. &uot;In the first half we were missing assignments. We started allowing (Alcorn’s posts) to shoot from the elbow (of the free-throw line). They started missing and their confidence level went down.&uot;

It was the polar opposite for Boston, who hit 9 of her last 14 shots in a wide variety of ways: off-balance, leaners, runners, layups, 3-pointers and continuations.

&uot;I did have a lot of off-balanced shots,&uot; said the All-SWAC first teamer. &uot;My whole mindset was getting to the (free-throw) line, but the shots were falling for me. I just wanted to win, so I knew I needed to go all out.&uot;

It was bittersweet for Alcorn head coach Shirley Walker, who recruited Boston heavily out of high school before she chose Grambling over such schools as Tulane, Northwestern State and Louisiana-Monroe and Alcorn.

&uot;From the first day I recruited her out of high school, I expected her to be that good,&uot; Walker said. &uot;If you looked at where she was at that level, I thought she’d be the player that she is now. Her leadership stands strong. She’s a tremendous player as well as person.&uot;

Boston speaks highly of Walker as well: &uot;She’s the sweetest lady I’ve ever met before. Whether we win or lose, she always gives me a, ‘Way to play, Boston,’ or, ‘Good game, Boston.’ I respect her very much.&uot;

Ponton wanted to see a balanced attack from his offense Wednesday, but when it never maturated, he turned to his old standby. Boston never disappointed her coach, making plays by scoring, passing with six assists and defending with three steals.

&uot;It’s not necessarily like a switch I can turn on or turn off,&uot; Boston said. &uot;I was very mentally prepared for this. We weren’t favored in this one. Once you’re the underdog, the pressure’s not on you.&uot;