SENATOBIA - There was plenty to talk about for Northwest after an 83-69 Sophomore Night victory against East Central on Monday, but nothing perhaps was more notable than the performance of Kolten Blakeney.

Blakeney, a sophomore forward from Taylorsville, showed out in one of her final home games as a Lady Ranger, totaling 25 points and 24 rebounds to lead all scorers. Her career-defining night tied the single-game record for rebounds, joining Chatica Hathaway's 24-rebound effort against Jackson State on November 2, 1995 atop the record books.

While setting new career-highs in both categories, Blakeney also became the first Northwest Lady Ranger to finish a game with both 20 points and 20 rebounds since Tamaria Thomas on Nov. 13, 2017 (21 points, 23 rebounds). Prior to that, no other Lady Ranger had earned that milestone since LaMaesha McAdory's 31-point, 23-rebound output against Jones County back on November 9, 2006.

However, Blakeney wasn't the only Northwest sophomore to turn heads. Guard Tierra Trotter scored 20 points on the evening, marking her sixth 20-point game of the season and the ninth of her career. Trotter, a native of Bryant, Ark., has also scored in double figures 24 times during her JUCO career.

Sharpshooter I'Yana Ragin also finished with 19 points and seven assists on the evening, collecting double digits for the 10th time this season. Freshman Claire Leak rounded out the Lady Rangers in double figures, adding 11 points off the bench.

As for the game itself, Northwest got off to a quick 4-0 advantage after buckets from Blakeney and Ragin, only to have East Central respond with a 7-0 run. The Lady Rangers would later trail the Lady Warriors by as many as 10 points during the opening quarter, but a foul on Leak's three-point attempt at the buzzer helped Northwest close the gap to seven, as the Walnut native hit all three of her free throws.

East Central flirted with a double-digit lead several times during the span of the second quarter, but the Lady Rangers did just enough to remain within nine points or less. Although Northwest would trim the gap to 24-20 off Trotter's layup with seven minutes to go, the Lady Warriors maintained the advantage for the remainder of the first half, leading 40-32 at the break.

Despite trailing for most of the first half, the Lady Rangers emerged from the locker room as a different team, opening the second half with a three-pointer from Sha'Kirria Everett right out of the gate. Down 44-35 less than two minutes into the third period, Northwest suddenly got hot from beyond the arc, sinking a trio of three-pointers from Leak and Trotter as part of an 11-0 run that swung the lead back to a 46-44 advantage for the Lady Rangers.

Though East Central would regain a narrow lead twice over the remaining six minutes of the quarter, Northwest remained hot on offense, outscoring the Lady Warriors 29-19 in the third to take a 61-59 advantage into the fourth.

That's when things really began to sync for the Lady Rangers, as Ragin's layup was followed by an and-one to put Northwest ahead by five in the early stages of the fourth period. By the 7:13 mark of the quarter, Northwest had stretched its lead to 11 and led by double figures the rest of the way.

In all, Northwest outscored East Central 51-29 in the second half, improving to 10-7 on the season and 4-4 against MACCC competition. The Lady Warriors dropped to 7-7 on the year and 3-4 in conference play.

East Central out-shot Northwest 50 percent to 35 percent in the first half, while also shooting 42 percent from three-point range, compared to just 21 percent from the Lady Rangers. However, the tide turned in the third quarter, as the Lady Rangers shot 55 percent from the floor and 60 percent from three-point range, ending the second half with 49 percent from the floor and 44 percent from beyond the arc.

Northwest bested the Lady Warriors in rebounds, 44-36, as Blakeney accounted for 24 of those. No other player from either team reached double figures in rebounds, with eight boards from East Central's Myeisha Scott coming the closest.

Sylvia Jones led ECCC with 11 points on the evening, along with five assists, four rebounds and four steals. Mirial Cannon also totaled 11 points for the Lady Warriors, while Scott earned 10.

With its two-game losing streak now in the past, Northwest looks ahead to a road matchup at Hinds, set for Thursday, January 27 at 5:30 P.M. The Lady Rangers are 35-5 all-time against the Lady Bulldogs, with the last meeting resulting in a 60-55 win for Northwest back on November 21, 2019.

Thursday's game can be seen on hindsccsports.net. Read Full Article