SENATOBIA - Both Northwest and Southwest Mississippi struggled to find offensive rhythm for most of Saturday evening's matchup, but it was the Lady Bears that came away victorious, scoring a 57-44 win against the Lady Rangers.
Although Southwest Mississippi never really pulled away, Northwest never led in the contest and only tied the game once in the early stages. The loss dropped the Lady Rangers to 11-5 overall and 3-2 in the MACCC, as the Lady Bears improved to 13-4 on the season and 4-0 in conference play.
Nearly five minutes passed before either team scored, with Kara Beth Addison breaking the ice for Southwest Mississippi at the 5:38 mark. The freshman guard accounted for eight of the Lady Bears' 14 first quarter points, as Northwest countered with five points from
Lily Whitley, including a three-pointer at the 4:31 mark that finally got the Lady Rangers on the board.
Trailing 14-8 entering the second quarter, Northwest struggled to cut into the Lady Bears' lead, only getting as close as five points. A pair of layups from Bethany Graves and Kalea Storm would eventually help Southwest Mississippi increase the lead to 12 points, but five straight points from
Kae'la Mitchell helped the Lady Rangers close the gap to 27-20 at the end of the first half.
Despite the spark from Mitchell, Northwest would suffer a disastrous third quarter, as Southwest Mississippi outscored the Lady Rangers by a 15-3 margin. Northwest got all three of their points off free throws, as the Lady Bears pushed the lead to 19 by the start of the fourth quarter.
It wasn't until the 9:28 mark of the fourth that Northwest would finally get its first basket of the second half, a layup by
Mariah Reed-Jones. By then, Southwest Mississippi had pushed the deficit to as many as 22 points, leading 45-23.
To the Lady Rangers' credit, Northwest worked the deficit down to 13 points with 6:36 left to go. However, the Lady Bears used a pair of free throws from Michaela Payton and a three-pointer by Veronica Williams to soar back ahead to a 52-34 margin.
Northwest continued to inch back into the game with successful free throws down the stretch, and even outscored Southwest Mississippi 21-15 in the quarter. However, the Lady Bears never trailed by any less than 13 points, firmly holding on to the win.
Neither team ended the evening shooting well, with Northwest finishing just 20 percent from the floor and a dismal 1-of-16 (6%) from three-point range. Most of the success for the Lady Rangers came by finishing 21-of-30 from the free throw line.
In comparison, Southwest Mississippi shot 35 percent on the evening and 32 percent from beyond the arc, totals that were both hampered by poor shooting in the first and final quarters.
Mitchell led Northwest with 11 points and four rebounds, finishing as the only Lady Ranger in double figures. Reed-Jones had eight points and four boards, while
Marian Jenkins provided six points and five rebounds off the bench.
Mikayla Abram added a boost on defense for Northwest, earning eight rebounds and four blocks.
Angela Middleton and
Lily Whitley rounded out the notable scoring, ending the night with five points apiece.
Addison led the Lady Bears with 12 points, eight of which came in the first quarter. Williams and Kennedee Shelton both fell shy of double-doubles, with Williams earning 11 points and nine rebounds, while Shelton led the team with 10 rebounds and eight points.
Northwest will look to shake off the loss with Monday's road trip to Mississippi Delta. The Lady Trojans (12-5, 2-2 MACCC) have lost two consecutive conference games, including Saturday's 54-43 final at East Central.
Tipoff from Moorhead is slated for 5:30 P.M. Fans unable to attend can view the game on YouTube by clicking
here or searching "MDCC Trojans".
