Women's Basketball | 2/9/2016 6:41:00 AM
Box Score
The Lady Bears picked up their fourth straight win Monday night with a relatively easy 67-44 win over the visiting Mississippi Gulf Coast Lady Bulldogs in a "Pink Game".
The "Pink Game" was held to help raise awareness of breast cancer and, prior to the game, several area survivors were honored.
With the win, the Lady Bears moved to 17-3 on the season and, coupled with Co-Lin's loss to East Central, claimed sole possession of second place in the MACJC South with a 9-2 mark. Gulf Coast dropped to 10-10, 2-9.
Tatyana Turner's bucket just five seconds into the contest gave the Lady Bears an early 2-0 lead. After Gulf Coast tied it at 2-2, an 18-6 run, capped by a Gabriella Cortez jumper, gave the Lady Bears a 20-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
With 7:53 left in the first half, Shalisa Hawthorne's three pointer put the Lady Bears on top 23-8. Gulf Coast's Kailin Young hit a jumper with 3:48 on the clock to make the score 25-13 before the Lady Bears closed out the half on an 11-2 run. Cortez nailed a three pointer with 0:19 left that sent the home team into the locker room with a 21-point, 36-15 advantage.
Gulf Coast could get no closer than 17 points in the third quarter, 38-21, with 8:08 on the clock. The Lady Bears took their biggest lead of the night, 52-25, when
Teshia Jones found the range from beyond the three-point arc with 1:59 showing. Hayley Pichon scored for the visitors with 0:59 left in the quarter that left the Lady Bears with a 52-29 lead heading into the final period.
The fourth quarter was much like the first three with Gulf Coast able to get no closer than 17 points, 56-39, with 5:53 left in the game. The score was 63-44 when
Alissa Adam fired in a short-range jumper that put the Lady Bears up 65-44 and they went on to claim the 23-point victory.
"It was a great night," said Lady Bears head coach Brent Harris. "Our Pink Night was a huge success and we got a big win. Shalisa hit some big shots, Gabby did a lot of good things offensively (and) Tatyana continues to compete at a high level."
Cortez topped the Lady Bears' offense with 16 points and chipped in eight rebounds. Jones netted 11 points while Adam and Hawthorne both scored 10. The Lady Bears made four of eight free throws.
Kamisha Tarvin scored nine points to lead Gulf Coast. The Lady Bulldogs hit seven of 12 free throws.
The Lady Bears make the short trip to Wesson for their next contest as they face arch-rival Co-Lin Thursday night. Tipoff for the MACJC South Division matchup is 6:00.
