It was a case of close, but not close enough, for the Southwest basketball teams Monday night as both squads ended the first half of the MACJC South Division schedule with tough losses at Hinds. The Lady Bears suffered a tough 69-65 loss while the Bears fell 81-79.
The Lady Bears once again played hard, but in the end just ran out of steam. It was all Hinds in the early going as Southwest (3-14, 0-6 South) quickly found itself down 5-0 and, with 6:53 left in the first half, on the short end of a 26-12 score.
A pair of Shaniece Sheffield free throws with 6:39 left in the half cut the Southwest deficit to 26-14 and apparently ignited a spark in the Lady Bears as they closed out the half on a 16-3 run, capped by a Shanekqua Bibbs layup, to go into the locker room trailing only 29-28.
Outscoring the Lady Bulldogs (3-13, 1-6) 6-3 to open the second half, Southwest took a 34-32 lead on a pair of Bibbs free throws with 17:08 to play in the game. Hinds then regained the lead, 35-34, on a Kenya Wright three-pointer with 16:48 left in the game.
The Lady Bulldogs then extended their lead to nine points on three occasions. A 66-57 lead with 3:48 to play proved to be too much for Southwest to overcome. A Cassie Berry layup with 0:15 remaining proved to be too little, too late for the Lady Bears.
The loss for Southwest came despite a season-high 31 points from Sheffield. Bibbs was also in double figures with 22 points. Berry chipped in seven points while Lacey Orr scored four and Julencia Brown added one. The Lady Bears hit 27 of 34 free throws.
Shelley Griffith led the Lady Bulldogs with 18 points. Hinds made good on 15 of 28 free throws.
