JACKSON &045; Three big ones down, one final huge game to go.

And then there are 14 more, but that’s not important right now.

The funky opening week of the Southwestern Athletic Conference schedule may benefit the fleetest of feet only with four games in eight days, but three games into it the Alcorn Lady Braves are thankful where they’re at but not quite satisfied.

The Lady Braves had to fight off a pesky Jackson State squad at the Williams Assembly Center Saturday for a 63-59 win. And you could see the wear on their legs &045; enough to leave head coach Shirley Walker just breathing a sigh of relief afterward more than anything.

&uot;This is one thing I’ve been worried about,&uot; said Walker, whose team is now 3-0 in conference. &uot;We played like this against Texas Southern in the first half. We took the next day off and didn’t practice until 3 or 4 o’clock the next day. This is the first time I can remember we had four ball games in almost a week. It’s been pretty tough.

&uot;I don’t feel we played our best ball, but I can’t say anything but I’m proud of how we came back.&uot;

Without senior forward and team leader Tnonealyer Powers, the Lady Braves (3-0, 7-4) had that rerun feeling in the second half after taking a double-digit lead on Jackson early in the first half and early in the second half. Jackson State &045; in a rebuilding mode of sorts this season without Amie Williams and Genina Johnson &045; pecked away the rest of the way and had the deficit at one at one point.

The Lady Tigers could never get the shots to fall at the right time, and Alcorn hit a couple of free throws late in the game to seal it.

&uot;We’ve got to stay focused,&uot; said post Rasaan Powell, who finished the game with a team-high 15 points. &uot;We weren’t running our offense like we should have. We were just playing street ball, basically. We weren’t running our offense, and the middle person wasn’t playing the bubble like they should have. But we came through.&uot;

Jackson trimmed the lead to one with 1:56 left on a bucket from Shante Stanford and later to two when Carena Easley tossed in a bucket at the 1:06 mark for a 61-59 ASU lead. The Lady Braves then lost it on their end but got it back when the Lady Tigers were called for over the back with 28 seconds left to send LaToya Johnson to the line.

Johnson hit the first and missed the second, but Jackson couldn’t connect when Aisha Scott went to the line with 14 seconds left and missed the front end of a one-and-one. Stanford and Easley then missed 3-point attempts, and Candace Roberts came up with the loose ball.

The senior from Utica drew a foul and hit one of two free throws with 1.8 seconds left to ice it.

&uot;That’s been our Achilles heel &045; we can’t score,&uot; JSU head coach Denise Taylor. &uot;Defensively, we’ve played two great games. But we’ve got to be able to put the ball in the basket. We’ve got a lot of young kids. We had three freshmen out there at the end.

&uot;We’re going through the growing pains. That’s what I’ve been telling the young kids &045; we beat ourselves. We missed the free throws, and we missed the layups.&uot;

The Lady Tigers (1-2, 3-9) did what they do best with the defense to get back in the game, and their half-court trap put the Lady Braves on their heels. Roberts put in a basket five minutes into the second half for a 38-28 lead before Jackson battled back with a 10-2 run.

Latoya Anderson’s jumper from the side trimmed the lead to 40-38.

&uot;I knew it was going to be tough,&uot; Walker said. &uot;We go in and have a game plan, but right now it’s all about focusing. It’s mental. You’ve got to do the job and do what you do best. I don’t know if we were tired, but we didn’t play our best basketball. I take my hat off to Coach Taylor and her staff. It’s always going to be tough between these two teams.&uot;

Jackson State kept pecking away, but on several occasions the Lady Braves answered. Freshman Tanika Nunez canned a 3-pointer with 6:57 left for a 48-41 lead, but Jackson got it back within one when Easley converted on a four-point play at the 4:53 mark for a 50-49 score.

Then Nunez hit another 3-pointer to ignite a 7-1 run for a 57-51 Alcorn lead.

&uot;She stepped up to be a freshman,&uot; Powell said of Nunez. &uot;I’m proud of her. Being in that situation with the crowd on the road, she did a pretty good job.&uot;

The Lady Braves first got things rolling midway through the first half by keeping Shelita Burns off the board and knocking down shots from the outside. Sims nailed a 3-pointer at the 8:33 mark to highlight a 17-2 run, and Roberts came with a three-point play later before Powell’s bucket at the 5:58 mark put the Alcorn lead at 23-12.

Stanford threw in two 3-pointers to cut the lead back to five for the Lady Tigers, and Shaneka Jones hit one of two free throws with 1:24 left to keep the deficit at four at 25-21.

The Lady Braves got the lead to eight before Ashley Lawson hit a bucket with 12 seconds left for a 29-23 halftime score in Alcorn’s favor.

Burns led Jackson with 17 points.