In what could be a preview of what's to come in MACCC play, the Lady Bears endured a tough, grueling match against the Hinds Lady Eagles in non-conference play Saturday night. And even though the visitors jumped ahead first, Southwest regained its composure and drew even late before the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
 
For Lady Bear head coach Nicole Cooper, Saturday's match was a good barometer of where her team is before they begin conference play next week.
 
"I think that today gave us an idea of some components that we need to continue to work on," she said. "Finding the back of the net in the final third, we had our chances, and we just couldn't put it away."
 
Those missed opportunities caused frustration for the Lady Bears (3-1-2) who tried to gain the upper hand first on their opponents from Raymond. Both teams spent the first 45:00 of play jockeying for position, trying to set the tone, but it was the opposing defenses who shined as the first half buzzer sounded with the score still even at 0-0.
 
Hinds broke through first in the 52^nd minute when the Lady Eagles scored on a penalty kick putting Southwest down 1-0.
 
The Lady Bears pressed on, looking for the equalizer. And they got it in the 74^th minute when Kayla Martin sent a shot in from about 25 yards out tying the match at 1.
 
Down the stretch, Southwest tried to use that momentum to its advantage and get a go-ahead goal. And even though they kept the ball on the Hinds half of the pitch for the majority of the remaining 16:00 of play, they could not get the goal they needed as the match ended in a draw.
 
The Lady Bears open conference play at home Tuesday hosting Pearl River at 5 p.m.