ELLISVILLE — On paper, the previous five days looked like a tough task for the Lady Bears with a challenging game at home followed by two tough road contests. But despite the challenges, Southwest rose above them and capped off the three-game stretch undefeated following a 63-53 win Monday night at Jones.
 
"I'm proud of the win, we played hard, and we did some good things but we didn't finish well again and it was maybe because of them," Southwest head coach Brent Harris said. "Our post game got going. It was a hard one."
 
The first quarter was a back-and-forth tussle between the Lady Bears (14-4, 5-0 MACCC) and the Bobcats. Michaela Payton's athleticism played a vital factor for Southwest throughout the ball game and especially early on as she quickly set the tone with her style of play on the offensive end. But the Jones offense shined as well and put Southwest down 13-11 after the first quarter.
 
Early in the second quarter, Kara Beth Addison drove to the basket and made a layup giving the Lady Bears a 15-13 lead, one that they never relinquished for the remainder of the game. As the quarter wore one, Morgan Sullivan began to get in a groove with three key makes within the first 5:00 of the period. Southwest took a six-point lead but watched it dwindle down to as little as one at the half after the Bobcats connected on a close-range shot at the buzzer. Southwest led 25-24 at the half.
 
In the third quarter, however, things took a turn for the better in a big way Southwest thanks to a suggestion from a sophomore leader in the locker room. "I'm going to give credit where credit is due and we talked about defenses and Morgan Sullivan came up with a good suggestion and we went with it," Harris said.
 
The change proved to be very beneficial for the Lady Bears as a 23-2 run propelled them ahead of Jones with a double-digit lead. By the time the dust settled, Southwest took a 52-33 lead. In the fourth, Jones began to rally once again and narrowed the Southwest advantage down to single digits, but key makes from Kennedee Shelton down the stretch helped keep the Lady Bears ahead,
 
"It was really big," Shelton said. "We just needed something to stop their momentum, seal the deal and keep the lead."
 
Shelton led the Lady Bears with 14 points and nine rebounds. Sullivan posted 10 points while Payton had nine points and nine rebounds.
 
The Lady Bears return home Thursday to host Mississippi Delta at 5:30 p.m.