PERKINSTON - Freshman Taylor Caldwell led Northwest with 17 points off the bench, but the Lady Rangers still left the coast empty-handed, as Mississippi Gulf Coast earned a 66-50 victory on Monday evening.

Northwest trailed by five, 45-40, at the end of the third quarter, only for the Lady Bulldogs to pull away with a 21-10 fourth quarter run. Simaru Fields also led all scorers with a whopping 31 points and 11 rebounds for MGCCC.

With the loss, the Lady Rangers' losing skid extended to 11 games as Northwest slid to a 6-15 overall record and a 1-11 mark in conference play. Mississippi Gulf Coast improved to 13-5 on the season, 8-3 in the MACCC and ran its home record to 10-1.

Neither team could shake off the rust in the first period, as the low-scoring quarter ended in a narrow 8-7 advantage for Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Lady Rangers trailed 5-0 to start, but rallied back to keep things close.

Though the Lady Rangers briefly gained a 14-12 lead midway through the second quarter, Fields began to get hot for the Lady Bulldogs. The freshman from Gulfport torched the Northwest defense, scoring 14 points in the midst of a 17-5 run that gave MGCCC a 29-19 halftime advantage.

Fields also earned the first seven points of the second half for the Lady Bulldogs, pushing the deficit to 15 points for Northwest. The Lady Rangers battled back to a five-point margin at the end of the third and cut the lead down to two, 50-48, with just over six minutes left to go.

However, that's when the shooting went cold at the worst possible time for Northwest. The Lady Rangers were limited to just one basket over the final 6:10 of regulation, while MGCCC pulled away down the stretch.

Despite the loss, Northwest and Mississippi Gulf Coast finished about even in every shooting category. Both teams shot 31 percent on the evening, with the Lady Rangers actually outshooting MGCCC from three-point land 33 percent to 28 percent. 

Caldwell's 17 points led all Northwest scorers, while the Lady Rangers' starting five accounted for just 18 points combined. Kennidi Dean finished as the next highest scorer, finishing with six points.

Fields' 31 points was coupled with 11 rebounds, finishing with a double-double for the Lady Bulldogs. Elsie Harris added 11 points, while T.K. Catchings finished with a team-high 17 points and nine points.

Northwest will now have a week off to look ahead to the final two games of the season. The first of those two games comes on Tuesday, February 21, as the Lady Rangers take on Southwest Mississippi for a 5:30 P.M. tipoff at Howard Coliseum. The matchup between the Lady Rangers and Lady Bears is the final home game of the 2022-23 season for Northwest and will also serve as Sophomore Night.

Southwest Mississippi is currently 15-9 on the season and 6-6 against MACCC competition. The Lady Bears will play Mississippi Gulf Coast in their home finale on Thursday, before concluding their regular season with the trip to Northwest. Read Full Article