FULTON – The homestanding Itawamba Lady Indians scored the game's first seven points and never looked back in a wire-to-wire 79-57 victory over Northwest Monday night at the Davis Event Center.

Itawamba improved to 10-6 overall and 5-1 in the north, while Northwest dropped to 9-6 and 3-3 in division play.

The Lady Indians led by as many as seven in the first quarter before a small Lady Ranger run pulled it within 18-14 after one. 

Turnovers, however, began to pile up in numbers for Northwest, allowing Itawamba to go on a 12-2 run to pull ahead by 17 late in the second quarter. 

Deja Faulkner's layup cut the Itawamba lead to 42-27 at half.

Itawamba began to pull away in the third quarter, dominating the paint with a 40-24 edge on the night and getting the Lady Rangers uncomfortable in transition with easy fastbreak points.

Northwest trailed by as many as 22 in the third quarter and cut the lead down to 70-57 in the fourth before bowing out.

Marlee Hatcher scored a game-high 23 for Itawamba, one of 10 Lady Indians in the scoring column. Averyale Joy had 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds for Northwest, her sixth 20-point effort of the season.

Northwest will welcome EMCC (10-5, 5-1) on Thursday night at 5 p.m. in Senatobia.