Fueled by 19 points from Kara Beth Addison and 18 from Michaela Payton, the No. 3 seed Lady Bears defeated No. 11 Meridian 72-53 Monday in the Quarterfinals of the 2023-24 NJCAA Region 23 Postseason Tournament.

The Lady Bears now move on to the semifinal round, on Thursday in Clinton against No. 2 Pearl River

"Its nice to achieve that, especially when you were picked 12^th in the preseason," Southwest head coach Brent Harris said. "I'm very proud of this team."

Early on, the Lady Bears (21-7) battled back from a 5-0 deficit using a 10-0 run with the majority of the scoring coming from Addison. She added five more points in the opening quarter to help the Lady Bears take an 18-16 lead.

"We had a size advantage and when you have a couple of six-foot and over (players) and they didn't have any like that," Addison said. "That was the game plan going into it and we executed it really well."

Southwest extended its lead to as many as seven points, however, the Lady Eagles rallied to reduce the advantage down to one. But, a Bethany Graves free throw followed by back-to-back three-point plays from Payton, the latter of the two coming at the 4:32 mark, pushed the Lady Bear lead to eight at 30-22.

Kennedee Shelton got into the act with two-consecutive makes before Graves added a three-point play of her own helping the Lady Bears close out the first half on a high note and with a 37-30 lead.

A 6-0 run for Southwest, consisting of four points from Payton, opened play in the third quarter.

The time frame also marked a change in the defense, one that paid dividends.

"We did find a different defense that gave us more energy," Harris said. "It gave us a little bit of transition and we kept it simple."

The change proved vital on both ends of the floor for the Lady Bears as key stops on the defensive end helped fuel makes on the offensive.

Southwest led 55-42 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth, the hits kept coming for the Lady Bears as they opened the period with a 13-4 run before finishing strong to preserve the win.

In addition to Addison's and Payton's big nights, two others finished in double figures in scoring as Veronica Williams had 12 and Shelton 10.

A tip-off time for Thursday's semifinal game against the Lady Wildcats has yet to be announced.