PERKINSTON — At a time when the Lady Bears needed to play a stellar brand of basketball, Thursday's game at Mississippi Gulf Coast arguably may have been their best game all season. Southwest grabbed the lead a little over 5:30 in and never relinquished it, picking up a 61-50 win over the Lady Bulldogs.
 
"We executed really well and defensively we played with a lot of heart," Southwest head coach Brent Harris said. "It was a good win. It is a hard place to come in (and play at). We executed and found some buckets (offensively) but defensively is where we hung out hats tonight."
 
Early in the contest, both teams were jockeying for position trying to get their games established. At the 4:13 mark, the Lady Bears (16-10, 6-7 MACCC) grabbed an 8-5 lead on the first of two 3-pointers in the quarter from freshman Gracie Miller. It was a lead that Southwest would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.
 
In the beginning stages of the second quarter, Kara Beth Addison began getting more in rhythm getting a basket and a free throw. Not long afterward, Southwest established its presence in the paint with a pair of makes from Bethany Graves, the second of which coming at the 4:08 mark and giving the Lady Bears a 20-12 advantage.
 
Addison closed the quarter with two more baskets helping give Southwest a 26-19 lead at the half.
 
The Lady Bears came out swinging in the third with a 9-3 run highlighted by a three-point play from Graves which kick-started the rally. Gulf Coast answered back with a 3-pointer followed by a three-point play but Southwest had a response of its own in the form of a 9-0 run with four of the points coming from Moosie Walls. The run also gave the Lady Bears their largest lead of the night at 16 points.
 
Leading 44-32 heading into the fourth, Southwest kept Its foot on the gas getting a 3-pointer from Mookie Lampley followed by a three-point play from Addison drawing an emotional cheer from the sophomore.
 
"It's huge and when you get one, your team is just as hyped as you are and that's momentum," Addison said.  
 
Down the stretch, the Lady Bears watched their lead slip a bit as the Lady Bulldogs rattled-off seven-consecutive points. But the damage had already been done as Southwest got one more basket from Addison before claiming the nine-point win.
 
Addison led Southwest with 16 points. Lampley posted 11 while Graves and Kalea Williams each had 10.
 
Southwest wraps the regular season at home Monday at 5:30 p.m. against Northwest on Sophomore Night.