JACKSON — Not even 24 hours removed from a thrilling win over Pearl River in the semifinals of the NJCAA Region 23 Postseason Tournament, the No. 3 seed Lady Bears, unfortunately, could not keep the momentum going in the finals, Friday, falling 62-50 to No. 1 seed Mississippi Gulf Coast.

"They are obviously very talented," Southwest head coach Brent Harris said of Gulf Coast. "They have five out there that you really can't leave (open) and four of the five can shoot the three really well and their post is really good so they are a tough match. I was proud of our finish."

The Lady Bears (22-8) got off to a solid start against the Lady Bulldogs. Through the first few minutes of play, both teams were working to find their offensive games. Unfortunately for Southwest, Gulf Coast found its first. With just under 3:00 to go in the first quarter, the Lady Bears had trouble slowing down a 10-0 Lady Bulldog run which put Southwest down 20-9 at the end of the opening quarter.

The Lady Bears continued to battle in the second quarter but for every positive that Southwest had, Gulf Coast had an answer on its end of the floor. The 11-point deficit carried over to the end of the first half as the Lady Bears trailed 31-20.

A Veronica Williams 3-pointer opened the scoring in the third quarter as the Lady Bears attempted a comeback. But the make was followed by a 13-0 Gulf Coast run as Southwest had trouble getting shots to drop. The Lady Bears were down 53-30 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth, things began to pick up for Southwest on both ends of the floor. An improved defense helped fire up the Lady Bear offense which went on a 16-7 run to open the quarter, cutting the Lady Bulldog lead down to 14.

Despite the deficit, the Lady Bears kept fighting but the clock ran out as the Lady Bulldogs took the win and claimed the Region Championship.

Kennedee Shelton led the Lady Bears with 21 points.