LORMAN &045; The more Rasaan Powell makes her presences known coming off the bench, the more she likes it.

Powell really doesn’t mind entering games for Alcorn State and not getting the starting nod, and she’s flourished in that role in recent games. Not many teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference have a solid 6-2 player to come off the bench, and maybe that’s the appeal for the sophomore out of Columbia.

Powell finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in Saturday’s 76-44 win over Alabama A&M as she and the Lady Braves brace for Alabama State tonight.

&uot;They’re believing in me more since I’m coming off the bench,&uot; said Powell, who had 18 points and nine boards the previous game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. &uot;Coach is preaching about going inside. It’s better (coming off the bench). The pressure is off me, basically. I think I play better coming off the bench.&uot;

An inside presence coming off the bench can’t be more welcomed at a time when the Lady Braves host Bama State and 6-5 post player Crystal Kitt. The Lady Braves have gone with their senior inside game of Tnonealyer Powers and Candace Roberts to start here lately, and all three will be needed tonight against Kitt.

Kitt, the Preseason Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year in the SWAC, put up 27 points and 18 boards in the last meeting.

&uot;Rasaan Powell &045; she’s been doing that the last three games,&uot; Alcorn head coach Shirley Walker said. &uot;That was one thing we really wanted. I like to be an inside person. Sometimes it doesn’t happen that way, but that’s one thing I do keep in my mind. (Kitt) is going to be a whole other ball game and a whole lot of work. We’ve just got to come ready to play.

&uot;We know we’ve got our work cut out for us. We know it’s coming. We just have to get ready for it.&uot;

The Lady Hornets will bring it in what may be the biggest conference game heading down the stretch in the race for the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. The Lady Hornets took a tough overtime 64-62 loss at Southern Saturday night to fall to 9-4 in conference and 1 1/2 games back of first-place Alcorn.

Kitt and the Lady Hornets should be motivated tonight with thoughts of getting back in first place.

&uot;We knew they just took one hard to Southern down there,&uot; forward Natasha Dennis said. &uot;We know they’re going to come in here hungry, but we’re hungry. They beat us at their place. It’s just Kitt to me. Their guards are pretty good.&uot;

Kitt has dominated SWAC opponents this season as she’s third in the conference in scoring and second in rebounding. The two teams split the series last season as the Lady Braves had the upper hand in Lorman with a 74-71 win despite 24 points from Kitt.

In that game Kitt used to her size on the offensive end by catching the lob pass on several trips down the floor in the second and half and hitting a turnaround jumper.

&uot;She’s very strong,&uot; Powell said. &uot;She’s the same person. I didn’t guard Kitt &045; the three seniors had that. I think we did the best we could. We’ve just got to stay mentally focused. We’ll try to stay focused, and hopefully we can pull this out Monday.&uot;