LORMAN &8212; Don&8217;t think Natasha Dennis&8217; 15 points, seven rebounds and three turnovers was just another day at the office.

Missing on the score sheet was the trips to the bench. Alcorn State&8217;s most experienced player had to ice down her knee to keep the swelling down during Monday&8217;s loss at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and she just tried to play through the pain.

As a fifth-year senior, she doesn&8217;t want to sit. And as a fifth-year senior who is the only returning starter from last season, the Lady Braves need her to help their current four-game losing skid.

Alcorn hosts Alabama State Saturday and Alabama A&M Monday.

&8220;Coach kind of calls me the grandmother of the team,&8221; Dennis said while sitting out practice Wednesday and icing her knee. &8220;She wants me to step up. I&8217;ve been here the longest, and I try to tell them what I know so we can do just as good as we were last year. We&8217;ve still got a chance. We&8217;ve just got to get used to playing with each other and know each other.&8221;It&8217;s the knee that&8217;s keeping her from giving her all on the floor right now, but she still expects to play this weekend. She was initially unavailable for both games last weekend with that knee she injured at Missouri over a month ago but had the clearance of trainer Eric Lewis to play Monday.

Dennis was bothered by that knee and an ankle &8212; on the same leg &8212; during the homestand against Jackson State and Grambling. She played only the first half against Grambling and left the locker room on crutches.

&8220;We just can&8217;t get that swelling out of it,&8221; ASU head coach Shirley Walker said. &8220;I talked with some of the sports medicine people, and they told me they think there might be a bruise there. Dennis looked strong (Monday). She made three or four shots as she normally does, but every time she&8217;d go up and come down, that&8217;s when the pain would be.&8221;

Yet as the team&8217;s most experienced player, Dennis hasn&8217;t shied away from trying help the Lady Braves get back on track and snap their four-game skid. The season has been up and down just as you&8217;d think for a team that lost four starters from last season, but Dennis isn&8217;t buying it.

The Lady Braves have relied too much on center Rasaan Powell for scoring. A healthy Dennis the shooter could help in that department, but Dennis the senior could do much more for everyone else.

&8220;I believe in each one of them, and we&8217;re going to come together and be all right,&8221; Dennis said. &8220;That&8217;s all I can say. (Tanika) Nunez did a terrific job last year as a freshman and wasn&8217;t afraid of anything. She&8217;s coming around. (Britany) Myatt is getting her confidence back up. I told her don&8217;t be afraid to shoot the ball and play your game.

&8220;That&8217;s what I tell all my people. That&8217;s what I tell Latoya Wily. I think she thinks too much. I told her to relax and play her game.&8221;

She can see the Lady Braves need more help on the offensive end besides Powell. The 6-2 junior still leads the conference in scoring (21.2 points a game), rebounding (10.1) and field-goal percentage (.517), but teams have found a way lately to beat Alcorn.

Powell has gotten the double- and triple-teams down low, and it&8217;s gotten to the point where fatigue sets in late in the game and she has trouble at the free-throw line late in the game.

&8220;We&8217;re going to have to do that,&8221; Walker said. &8220;I thought about some things that we need to do. We&8217;re just going to bring &8217;Shan out of the game to give her some rest regardless. Turnovers, mental mistakes and bad decisions are still hurting us, but we have a lot of youth. We told the kids what they have to do is keep a positive mind, a healthy mind, to do what they have to do to bring their game up.&8221;

The Lady Braves could use something good to happen to them this weekend to not only snap their skid but taste victory after losing three straight at the buzzer prior to the UAPB loss. Both losses at home came down to the final shot, and Valley beat them in overtime Saturday.

Nunez should return this weekend after she played Monday as well. She sat out the Valley game due to injury.

&8220;Everyone was down, but you can&8217;t dwell on those two games,&8221; Dennis said. &8220;We&8217;ve just got to keep moving along, keep our heads up and get ready to play Alabama State. We&8217;ve just got to put it behind us.&8221;

As the most experienced player on the team, Dennis has a better understanding of how to do that. All the time she&8217;s spent sitting out while icing her knee may have given her a different perspective on how her team can get things right.

&8220;I can see what&8217;s going on now,&8221; Dennis said. &8220;It&8217;s a different point of view when you&8217;re sitting out. I try to show them what&8217;s going on and straighten it out. Once we come back from all these injuries and everybody gets back, it&8217;ll be something to see.&8221;