Special to The Democrat

GRAMBLING, La. &8212; Alcorn State has searched all season for another scorer to complement Rasaan Powell.

Several players stepped forward on Monday night, as Alcorn earned a 71-57victory over Grambling State just two days after an embarrassing performance at Jackson State.

&8220;We were in that slump, and we were tired of losing,&8221; point guard Tanika Nunez said. &8220;We&8217;re the defending champs. We need to play like champs.&8221;

Nunez said the Lady Braves wanted to redeem themselves after a 70-48 loss to Grambling State.

&8220;Everybody was frustrated. Everybody was angry, saying we needed to play better,&8221; she said. &8220;Everybody stepped up, and we did what we had to do. Jackson is not 22 points better than us, so we just had to take it out on our next opponent.&8221;

Powell &8212; the SWAC&8217;s leading scorer &8212; finished with 23 points, while center Latoya Wiley added 14 points and seven rebounds.

More importantly, the Lady Braves (5-6, 7-12) got stellar guard play against Grambling&8217;s constant fullcourt pressure.

Yes, Alcorn still committed 26 turnovers, but they were not of the care less variety that has plagued the team all season.

Instead, guards Britany Myatt and Tanika Nunez attacked the Lady Tigers&8217; pressure and combined for 10 assists. Nunez delivered a season-high seven assists.

Tiffaney Smith also came off the bench to score a season-high 10 points, including two key free 3-pointers in the first half &8212; before leaving in the second half with a leg injury.

&8220;When she made those two 3-pointers, they started coming out and guarding us on the perimter,&8221; Nunez said. &8220;That made it easier.&8221;

Alcorn led by as many as eight points in the first half, but Grambling closed the gap to 29-26 at halftime.

The Lady Tigers cut the deficit to one in the opening moments of the second half, but Alcorn used a team theme to pull away. Nunez&8217;s fastbreak layup with 7:47 to play pushed the lead to double digits, at 53-42, and reserve forward Ebony Franklin added a layup a minute later.