Mississippi Gulf Coast MGCCCW 13-7, 5-6

Northwest Mississippi NWCCW 13-7, 7-4

Mississippi Gulf Coast MGCCCW

13-7, 5-6

Final

Feb. 07, 2022

Northwest Mississippi NWCCW

13-7, 7-4

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Mississippi Gulf Coast MGCCCW	16	13	13	11	53
Northwest Mississippi NWCCW	16	20	20	22	78

Summary
Box Score

Brian Lentz / nwccrangers.com

Maura Nunley finished with 14 points to help lift Northwest to its fourth straight victory, a 78-53 decision against Mississippi Gulf Coast on Monday evening.

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 02/07/22 09:42 PM | Brian Lentz

Lady Rangers Roll to Fourth Straight Victory

SENATOBIA - Thanks to yet another strong second half, Northwest kept up its winning ways with a convincing 78-53 victory against Mississippi Gulf Coast on Monday evening.

Northwest improved to 13-7 with the victory and jumped to 7-4 against MACCC competition. Meanwhile, the Lady Bulldogs dropped to 13-7 overall and 5-6 in conference play.

An early back-and-forth affair resulted in a 16-16 tie at the end of the first period, but a three-pointer from I'Yana Ragin kickstarted a 20-13 second quarter run for the Lady Rangers. Northwest stretched its pre-halftime lead to as high as 30-18 midway through the quarter, but the Lady Bulldogs kept hanging around, mostly due to the efforts of Aniya Saddler.

Northwest led 34-22 with just under three minutes remaining in the first half, only for Mississippi Gulf Coast to close the gap with a 7-2 run down the stretch, pulling within 36-29 at the halftime break.

A pair of jumpers from Ragin and Kolten Blakeney helped Northwest strike first in the second half, but it wasn't until the 3:26 mark of the third quarter that the Lady Rangers began to pull away for good. Leading 48-38, a Blakeney jumper and two baskets from Tierra Trotter helped Northwest close the period on an 8-2 run, widening the gap to 56-40 late in the quarter.

Northwest spent the final 10 minutes of regulation leading by double figures and held the Lady Bulldogs scoreless over the final three minutes of the contest, aside from a breakaway layup with five seconds to go.

Trotter's 24 points led all scorers, followed by 14 from Maura Nunley and 12 apiece from Blakeney and Ragin. Blakeney's nine rebounds also led the team in that category, while Ashanti High also earned six points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Northwest shot 44 percent from the floor in the first period, but finished over 50 percent over the next three quarters. The Lady Rangers ended the evening right at 50 percent shooting, while MGCCC was limited to 32 percent.

Northwest also edged the Lady Bulldogs 40-34 in the paint and 20-8 in second chance points. The Lady Rangers nearly matched MGCCC in total rebounds, but the Lady Bulldogs finished with a slight 45-43 edge.

Saddler had 11 points for Mississippi Gulf Coast, but was held scoreless in the second half. Elsie Harris finished with 13 points to end the night as the Lady Bulldogs' leading scorer, while Sharisse Bridges posted a near double-double of nine points and eight rebounds off the bench.

With the win, Northwest moves into a three-way tie for fifth place in the latest MACCC standings, joining Copiah-Lincoln and Itawamba. The Lady Rangers' next contest will take place next Monday, February 14 at Southwest Mississippi (14-7, 9-3 MACCC).