SENATOBIA - Despite a hot shooting night from sophomore I'Yana Ragin, Northwest found itself on the wrong end of a 70-64 decision against Pearl River on Tuesday evening.

Ragin, a native of Baldwyn, tied her career-high of 21 points in the loss, with 18 of her points coming from three-point range. The Lady Rangers dropped to 9-6 overall and 3-3 in conference play, while Pearl River jumped to 11-3 on the season and 5-1 against MACCC competition.

Northwest opened the game with a quick 5-0 lead, only for the Lady Wildcats to close the gap to 8-6 midway through the opening quarter. From there, Pearl River went on an 8-0 run to make it a 14-8 advantage and closed out the first period with an 18-12 lead.

Both teams traded baskets throughout the second quarter, but the real highlight came on a buzzer-beating jump shot from Kolten Blakeney that sent the Lady Rangers ahead 31-30 at the halftime break.

Once again, the two teams went toe-to-toe with each other over the course of the third, but it was Pearl River that would end the quarter with a slight 48-47 lead. From there, Northwest went cold to start the fourth, being held scoreless over the first five minutes of the quarter.

Trailing by 10 with three minutes left to go, the Lady Rangers chipped away at the deficit and pulled within five, 65-60, with roughly a minute left in regulation. However, Pearl River put Northwest in a position to use fouls and the Lady Wildcats hit most of their free throws down the stretch, doing just enough to earn the road win.

Pearl River handed Northwest just its second home loss of the season and the first since November 20. 

Blakeney and Tierra Trotter finished with nine points apiece for the Lady Rangers, while Sha'Kirria Everett came up with eight. Ty'Mesha Reed posted a team-high 16 points to lead Pearl River, followed by 14 from Keshunti Nichols and 10 from Marcavia Shavers.

Next up for Northwest will be a road contest at Coahoma, scheduled for Thursday at 6 P.M. The two teams have met once already this season, with the Lady Tigers edging out a 72-70 victory in a November 20 non-conference battle.

Thursday's game can be seen on coahomasports.com/watch. Read Full Article