NICEVILLE, FLA. — Sophomore guard Payton Dunbar scored a game-high 21 points to key Providence to a 64-33 victory past Alcorn in third-place game of the Bay Bracket of the Emerald Coast Classic at Northwest Florida State College Tuesday.
Dunbar scored eight points in the first quarter, staking Providence to an 18-4 lead and the Friars were never threatened. Dunbar finished the game with four three-point baskets, while collecting two steals.
Providence closed out the game, outscoring Alcorn, 16-2, in the fourth quarter.
“We put two halves together today,” said Providence head coach Erin Batth. “I don’t think we did a good job of that yesterday against Middle Tennessee State….Our first quarter today really mimicked what we did yesterday, getting out to an early lead. Second quarter Alcorn State outscored us. So, I wanted to see us adjust at halftime. Can we come back and put two halves together? All of my players got to play today and I love that. That’s who I am. I want all of our players to play and get experience out there and I was able to do that today. It really means a lot to me.”
Forward Teneisia Brown added 14 points for Providence which scored 26 points off Alcorn miscues.
Batthm, in her third season as head coach at Providence, had nothing but praise to Emerald Coast Classic tournament officials.”It’s great,” said Batth. “First of all, this is where I vacation, and this is my spot. I told the team I had to take them to Destin. So, we came down here…. It’s a great arena. It’s a no-brainer to play in this tournament. I love it, I give it a ten. I’ll be back.”
Guard Kiarra Henderson led Alcorn (1-5) with 10 points. The Lady Braves shot just 29.5 percent from the floor (13-44), while committing 19 turnovers.
Dunbar and Henderson were selected to the Bay Bracket All-Tournament team.
