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Southwest Mississippi Community College

Scoreboard

Lady Bears outlast Lady Wildcats, 46-44, in Poplarville

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Gabriella Cortez

Women's Basketball | 1/29/2016 7:08:00 AM

Box Score

In a low-scoring affair, the Lady Bears overcame a poor shooting night to begin the second half of MACJC South Division play on an upbeat note with a narrow 46-44 win over the Pearl River Lady Wildcats in Poplarville.
 
The win moved the Lady Bears to 14-3 overall and kept them in a tie with Co-Lin for second place in the South with a 6-2 mark. The win also ran the Lady Bears' road record to 7-0.
 
The Lady Bears trailed 3-0 early before back-to-back three pointers from Teshia Jones gave them a 6-3 lead with 5:54 left in the first quarter. The score was 8-3 before Pearl River (6-10, 3-5 South) closed out the quarter on a 10-0 run to go on top 13-8.
 
Trailing 20-13 in the second quarter, the Lady Bears scored seven straight, ending with a Lillie Snowden bucket, to knot the game at 20-20 with 2:03 on the clock. Pearl River's Asia Thibodeaux then made good on three free throws to give the home team a 23-20 lead with 1:43 on the clock. They took the same lead into the locker room at the break.
 
Three pointers from Ke' Asia Gray and Jones helped the Lady Bears take a 30-29 lead with 3:49 left in the third quarter. Gabriella Cortez then hit a short jumper with 0:40 on the clock that put the Lady Bears up by five, 34-29, heading into the final quarter.
 
Cortez completed an old-fashioned three-point play with 8:27 left in the final quarter. Her seventh straight point, ending a 12-2 run, increased the Lady Bears' lead to a seemingly comfortable 39-29. The home team had other ideas, however, and scored 14 of the next 18 points to tie the score at 43-43 with only 0:32 remaining in the game.
 
Seconds later, a basket from Cortez put the Lady Bears on top 45-43. After Pearl River's Akayla Powell hit a free throw to make the score 45-44 with 0:06 to play, Alissa Adam made one of two free throws for the Lady Bears with 0:04 to go. The Lady Bears then were able to prevent their hosts from taking a possible game-tying or winning shot in the remaining time and escaped Poplarville with the win.
 
Speaking of the Lady Bears' win and poor shooting performance (the Lady Bears were only 18-60 from the field for 30%), head coach Brent Harris said, "I don't know what they (Pearl River) shot, but I hope it was lower than that (Pearl River hit only 16-69 of their field goals for 23%). Maybe that's why we survived."
 
Harris said "We're trying to teach our (players) that things happen. There're different tempos and people play different ways. I don't know if we were super focused tonight. I think it (our performance) was a credit to their coaching staff and their game plan. But, hopefully we can learn from tonight and grow as a team."
 
Cortez led all scorers in the game with 20 points while Jones was also in double figures with 14 points. Adam chipped in six assists. The Lady Bears made good on five of 11 free throws.
 
Pearl River was topped by Shaniqua Magee's 10 points. The Lady Wildcats were 11-19 from the free throw line.
 
The Lady Bears return to the court at home Monday night at 5:30 when they play host to the Lady Bulldogs of Hinds.
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Teshia Jones

#1 Teshia Jones

G
5' 5"
Sophomore
Alissa Adam

#10 Alissa Adam

G/F
5' 8"
Freshman
Ke

#14 Ke' Asia Gray

G
5' 4"
Sophomore
Lillie Snowden

#15 Lillie Snowden

F
5' 10"
Sophomore
Gabriella Cortez

#34 Gabriella Cortez

F
5' 11"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Teshia Jones

#1 Teshia Jones

5' 5"
Sophomore
G
Alissa Adam

#10 Alissa Adam

5' 8"
Freshman
G/F
Ke

#14 Ke' Asia Gray

5' 4"
Sophomore
G
Lillie Snowden

#15 Lillie Snowden

5' 10"
Sophomore
F
Gabriella Cortez

#34 Gabriella Cortez

5' 11"
Sophomore
F