SENATOBIA - A chaotic, foul-filled non-conference finale for Northwest ended in a 69-63 loss on Thursday evening, as the Lady Rangers and Copiah-Lincoln were plagued with foul trouble.
Northwest was whistled for 29 total fouls, the most committed by the Lady Rangers since a November 13, 2017 loss to Arkansas State Mid-South (31). In total, both teams combined for 56 fouls on the night, as Northwest fell to 8-3 overall.
However, both teams also suffered offense woes at times, with the Lady Rangers finishing the evening shooting just 25 percent from the floor. Northwest was held to a meager 18 percent shooting in the fourth quarter, while finishing 6-for-25 (24%) from beyond the arc and 19-of-34 (56%) from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Copiah-Lincoln was limited to just 13 percent shooting in the second quarter, but managed to finish 43 percent overall.
Neither team was able to break away in the first quarter, with the Lady Wolves taking the largest lead of five points on a LaShaunte Payne layup at the 3:02 mark. Northwest pulled back within one, but Co-Lin finished with a 17-14 advantage entering the second quarter.
Northwest got the better of Co-Lin in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Wolves by a 17-8 margin. The Lady Rangers led by five late in the quarter, after a three-pointer from
Zaria Glover, only for Co-Lin to get a quick basket and cut the lead back to four. That's when
Mariah Reed-Jones would provide one of two buzzer-beating plays in the game, draining a fade-away three-pointer to give Northwest a 31-25 advantage at halftime.
Although the Lady Rangers stretched their lead to as many as eight points midway through the third quarter, the fouls began to pile up, which sent several notable players to the bench. In turn, Co-Lin began to take advantage, as the Lady Wolves worked the deficit down to a 48-48 tie with 31 seconds to go. Reed-Jones' made free throw on a one-and-one and another buzzer-beating three-pointer helped Northwest enter the fourth quarter with a narrow four-point lead.
However, the shooting struggles and foul trouble caught up to Northwest early in the fourth quarter, and the Lady Rangers soon squandered the lead away for good. Kayla Howard's fastbreak layup a minute into the quarter tied the game at 52 apiece and another fastbreak layup from Howard a minute and a half later gave the Lady Wolves a permanent advantage.
Northwest never trailed by more than six the rest of the way, but as
Zaria Glover,
Marian Jenkins and
Angela Middleton all fouled out, Co-Lin seemed to stay one step ahead on the other end of the floor. The Lady Wolves had eight players with three fouls or more, but all managed to avoid the dreaded fifth foul. Ceara Myers came the closest to fouling out for Co-Lin, finishing with four fouls.
Kae'la Mitchell collected her best scoring effort of the season, leading the Lady Rangers with 17 points, while Reed-Jones collected 16 points and eight rebounds. Jenkins totaled seven points, while
Jacia Hayes earned a team-leading nine rebounds.
In her first game back from illness,
Mikayla Abram resumed her ongoing block party, totaling five swats on the evening. The Memphis native now has 36 blocks on the season, good for first in the MACCC and fifth in the NJCAA, while her 3.6 blocks per game average ranks first in the conference and second in the NJCAA, trailing only Laura Rivera of Malcolm X College.
Northwest did outscore Co-Lin in second chance points (20-2), but the two teams finished near even in every other statistical category.
Three players reached double figures for the Lady Wolves, led by 16 points from Cookie Wilkinson. Howard notched 14 points, while Myers totaled 12 points and six rebounds. Additionally, Jamea Smith led Co-Lin with seven rebounds.
With the loss, Northwest now turns its attention to the start of conference play, slated for Thursday, January 18 against Southwest Mississippi (9-4). Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 P.M. at Howard Coliseum.
