A quick start to Monday's home conference game against Hinds was just the spark the Lady Bears needed as they took that momentum and ran with it, picking up a 77-51 win over the Lady Bulldogs.
"That's them, that's the team doing that with the sophomore leadership," Southwest head coach Brent Harris said. "This group…they work hard everyday."
The Lady Bears (14-9, 4-6 MACCC) jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first 4:39 as both the offense and defense got to work early. A big reason for the success of the offense was the play of freshman Mady Smith who scored half of Southwest's first 12 points.
"I was just playing with confidence, and taking the open shots that I had and looking for others so they can create their own shots," said Smith who was one of five Lady Bears who finished in double-digits in scoring with 11 points.
The quick start for Southwest, unfortunately, lost its momentum as Hinds got into rhythm and began to rally. The Lady Bears watched their lead dwindle down to as little as three with 1:35 to go in the first quarter. But Smith splashed in a 3-pointer putting the hosts up 17-11.
Kara Beth Addison scored a couple of key baskets early in the second quarter before Gracie Miller added a basket of her own and a pair of free throws, pushing the Lady Bear lead to double-digits at 29-19.
Southwest led 31-23 at the half.
Things really began picking up for Southwest in the third. The combination of Addison, Miller and Mookie Lampley led the charge as the Lady Bears grew their lead to as much as 20 with just over a minute to go in the third quarter.
Harris said that he was proud of his team for not panicking after losing momentum following a quick start and getting into a groove in the third.
"Maybe I was a little more dialed up about it than they were and their steadiness helped us weather the storm," he said. "In the second half, we really started executing some stuff, getting the ball to our scorers and sharing the basketball."
Leading 51-35 entering the fourth, the Lady Bears kept pouring it on. Lampley and Bethany Graves provided most of the early offense as Southwest once again built a 20-point advantage at 61-41.
A strong finish down the stretch helped the hosts seal the win, its second-consecutive.
In addition to Smith's big night, Southwest also got double-digit scoring from Miller and Addison who had 15 points apiece, Lampley who recorded 12 points and Graves who tallied 10.
Southwest returns to action on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. as the Lady Bears travel north to Fulton to face the Itawamba Lady Indians.
