The Southwest Mississippi Community College women’s basketball team’s stay in the MACJC state tournament was a short one as they were defeated by the host Itawamba Lady Indians 58-52 Tuesday night in Fulton.
With the loss, the Lady Bears fell to 17-7 while the win moved Itawamba to the semi-finals at 19-5.
Despite the loss, head coach Brent Harris said the Lady Bears’ season has at least one more game to come. Harris said the Lady Bears will play on Wednesday, March 2, in the NJCAA Region 23 tournament at Mississippi College in Clinton. Their opponent and game time have not yet been determined.
The Lady Bears were down 2-0 early before taking a 3-2 lead on a Teshia Jones 3-pointer with 8:51 left in the first quarter. A 3-pointer and layup from Alissa Adam then gave the Lady Bears an 8-4 lead with 6:17 on the clock.
The teams were tied at 8-8 and 10-10 before Itawamba closed out the quarter on a 10-4 run to take a 20-14 lead.
A Jabria Pounds trey gave Itawamba its biggest lead of the half, 25-16, with 5:45 to play in the second quarter. The Lady Bears then scored five of the next seven points and cut their deficit to 27-21 on Shalisa Hawthorne’s 3-pointer with 1:38 on the clock.
Itawamba then went on to hold an eight-point, 29-21 lead at the end of the half.
Itawamba’s lead was trimmed to four points, 33-29, when Adam completed an old-fashioned 3-point play with 4:29 left in the third quarter. But, the hosts outscored the Lady Bears 12-5 the rest of the quarter and take a 45-34 lead heading to the final 10:00 of play.
As the final quarter began, the Lady Bears made it clear they were not ready to call it quits just yet as they scored the first eight points and pulled to within three points, 45-42, on Hawthorne’s free throw with 6:09 left in the game. But, Itawamba scored the next five points to increase their lead back to eight points, 50-42, with 3:06 to play.
The Lady Bears drew to within four points on three occasions during the remaining time on the clock. But, Itawamba found a way each time to keep the Lady Bears at bay as they went on to the six-point victory.
“I was very disappointed with the outcome,” Harris said. “The game was there for the taking. Their extra opportunities and our unforced turnovers were the difference.”
Adam topped the Lady Bears’ offense, and all scorers, with 23 points. Lillie Snowden led the team on the boards with eight rebounds and Jones had four assists. The Lady Bears made 12 of 18 free throws.
Treasure Evans, Pounds and Erika Toney all had 10 points to lead Itawamba. As a team, Itawamba made 18 of 24 free throws.
