Joyce Kennerson came within two points of a career high she just set this season, and it was enough to push the 2015 Port Arthur Memorial graduate to the top of the NCAA scoring average chart.

Kennerson’s 33 points for Texas Southern against Dallas-based Paul Quinn College on Sunday gave her a 26.6-point per game scoring average, passing Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell (26.2) for the national lead. This is the first time the 5-foot-4 junior has led the nation in scoring.

Texas Southern won 85-59 in Houston after leading a fairly close contest for three periods. The host Tigers outscored the visiting Tigers 33-17 in the final 10 minutes.

Kennerson, a two-time SWAC player of the week this season, has scored 30 or more points three times as a junior. She had 33 points against Texas State to bounce back from a season-low 11 points at Wake Forest, and scored a career-high 35 against Sam Houston State.

Mitchell, a senior guard, was named the Big Ten co-player of the week with Megan Gustafson of Iowa on Monday. Mitchell scored 22 points in a win over Dartmouth on Friday and added 31 points in a win over Cincinnati.

A’ja Wilson of defending national champion South Carolina is third at 24.2 points per game, followed by Tanaya Atkinson of Temple (23.9), Kitija Laksa of South Florida (23.0), Tashia Brown of Western Kentucy (22.9) and Kalani Brown of Baylor (22.4).

Texas Southern will visit New Orleans on Thursday and play at Mississippi a week later before beginning SWAC play on New Year’s Day at home against Southern.

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I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews