SENATOBIA - Northwest freshman
Mariah Reed-Jones led all scorers with a 25-point effort, but it wasn't quite enough to stop Coahoma from earning a 64-61 win against the Lady Rangers on Thursday evening.
A native of Oxford, Reed-Jones nearly finished with a double-double, also collecting a team-high eight rebounds. With the loss, Northwest fell to 13-7 overall and 5-4 in the MACCC, while Coahoma jumped to 13-5 on the season and 5-3 in conference play.
Tied 4-4 in the early minutes of the contest, Northwest pulled ahead by five with a jumper from Reed-Jones and a three-pointer by
Kae'la Mitchell. However, Coahoma responded with an 8-0 run, regaining a 12-9 lead with 2:56 left in the opening quarter.
Back-to-back layups from
Zaria Glover and
Lily Whitley helped the Lady Rangers pull back ahead by a 13-12 margin, but Coahoma ended the first quarter with two straight buckets and a 16-13 lead.
Though Northwest opened the second with a successful jumper from Reed-Jones, Coahoma began to gain separation and outscored the Lady Rangers by a 20-12 margin over the span of the quarter. The Lady Tigers went on 13-0 run that lasted nearly two and a half minutes, stretching their lead to 29-15 with 6:08 left before halftime.
Three straight baskets from Reed-Jones helped the Lady Rangers trim the deficit to eight, but Kamil Washum immediately responded with a three-pointer to put the Lady Tigers back ahead by 11. Coahoma ended the first half with a good basket from Jamaica Young, sending Northwest to the locker room in a 36-25 deficit.
Coahoma took a 14-point advantage at the 7:15 mark of the third quarter, thanks to a three-pointer by Janiya Jones. Northwest responded by working the Lady Tigers' lead down to seven points, only for Coahoma to go back ahead by double figures on a layup from Jones.
Trailing 52-43 entering the fourth quarter, Northwest soon fell behind by 15 points with 6:39 left to go. However, the Lady Rangers refused to surrender, closing the game on a 15-3 run, sparked by five straight points from Reed-Jones.
With the lead back under 10 points, Mitchell hit a jumper and a free throw to bring Northwest back within seven. Ceriah Evans helped Coahoma bring the lead back to 63-54 with 3:54 remaining, only for
Angela Middleton to knock down a pair of free throws, sending the Lady Rangers back within seven.
On the next possession, Middleton responded with a three-pointer to cut the deficit down to four and a jumper from Reed-Jones made it a two-point game with just 15 seconds left. However, Northwest was forced to foul the Lady Tigers, sending Tereah Hayslett to the line. Though she made the first free throw, Hayslett missed the second, allowing
Jacia Hayes to grab the rebound and a quick timeout with five seconds to go.
Unfortunately, Northwest was unable to attempt a final shot and complete the comeback, as the Lady Rangers turned the ball over to Coahoma, which successfully ran out the clock.
Northwest shot 41 percent from the floor, slightly better than Coahoma's 39 percent clip. However, the Lady Rangers struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just two of their 12 attempts. Meanwhile, the Lady Tigers shot 37 percent from three-point land, making seven of thier 19 attempts.
From the free throw line, Northwest was 9-for-14 at 64 percent, while Coahoma hit 58 percent of its free throws. The Lady Tigers also hit seven of its 13 free throws in the first half, while the Lady Rangers did not attempt any free throws in the half.
Northwest did outscore Coahoma 20-14 in points off turnovers and 24-14 in the paint, but the Lady Tigers outmatched the Lady Rangers 12-6 in bench points and 16-13 in second chance points.
In addition to the solid performance from Reed-Jones,
Mikayla Abram also finished with 12 points and four rebounds, followed by 11 points and three steals from
Kae'la Mitchell. Hayes and
Marian Jenkins also combined to gather 13 rebounds off the bench.
Myers led Coahoma with 16 points and six rebounds, followed by 13 points from Jones. Evans just missed out on a double-double for the Lady Tigers, recording nine points and 13 rebounds.
Northwest will now turn its attention to Tuesday, February 20, when the Lady Rangers visit East Central. The Lady Warriors (14-8, 3-5 MACCC) are coming off a 63-56 loss to Mississippi Gulf Coast, their second loss in the last three games.
Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 P.M. in Decatur, with broadcast coverage available on
eccclive.com/gold-channel/.
