Box Score SENATOBIA – There was never a doubt on Monday night at Howard Coliseum as the Northwest Mississippi Community College women's basketball team improved to 8-4 thanks to an impressive 72-58 win in their final game going into the break, taking down Holmes Community College (6-3) thanks to big nights from Alorian Story and Dekyra Mitchell.
"I'm excited about the win. It was a good team win but I just kind of down about how we won the game," Head Coach LaTaryl Williams said. "All in all, that's a statement win over a team in our conference, so it's a good win overall."
The Ranger offense got going early in the game, looking to the inside where Story responded, helping lead a 9-0 run through the first five minutes before the Bulldogs were able to get on the board. That lead held through the opening quarter and was increased to double digits with a three from Mitchell increasing the lead to 19-6 with a pair of threes as the Rangers closed the first quarter up 19-8.
Both offenses started to cook in the second quarter as the game became more of a race, but Northwest didn't' get shaken, answering tit for tat and using trips to the foul line, where they would go 8-11 in the first half, to increase the lead to as much as 14 in the opening three minutes at 30-16.
The lead never dipped below double figures from there and Northwest took a 45-30 advantage into the half, with the duo of Mitchell and Story combining for 17 points each to outscore the Bulldogs by themselves, shooting 13-24 from the field and combining for eight rebounds.
Zoey Metcalf hit a three to get the second half going for Northwest as they continued to take it to the Bulldogs, increasing the lead to 50-30 in the opening minute for what would be the game high lead for the Rangers.
Holmes didn't back down and took the next seven minutes to trim the gap back to 13 points, but a three from Andrea Rios ended the spur quickly in the late minutes of the third to make it 60-44 and the Rangers took a 16-point lead into the final quarter up 63-47.
Williams said that was good to see because they have been working specifically on the outside shooting.
"On thing we have been working on the last couple of weeks is getting better shooting. We realize that Story is going to draw a lot of attention, a lot of people are going to double and triple team her, so that's opportunities for others to get jump shots on the perimeter."
Defense was the name of the game in the fourth quarter, as the Rangers didn't allow a point to the Bulldogs for the opening 90 seconds and didn't allow a field goal from Holmes until a fast break layup with 5:35 to go in the game. The offense for Northwest didn't pull them ahead any further as they had their own quiet moments, but the game was never in doubt down the stretch as they capped off their eighth win of the season with a 72-58 victory to go to the break.
Story finished with another 21-point game for her third game in a row with at least 20 points, adding a team high 16 rebounds which gave her an eighth double-double on the year. That is already three off of her total from last season.
Mitchell finished with 19 points and has now scored double figures in all but one game on the year, averaging 16.2 points per game this season.
Hampton closed out the top performances with nine points and another five assists, five rebounds and four steals. Her 52 assists lead the team, and she has had at least five assists in six games this year.
Northwest outrebounded the Bulldogs 51-41 in the game and had an 18-7 advantage in offensive rebounds through the game. They also held Holmes to just 39 percent shooting from the field and only 3-13 shooting from three-point range.
The game wraps up the first half of the year for Northwest and they will focus their attention on a pair of games against Lawson State Community College at the start of the new year, opening on January 5th at 5:30 against the Cougars before returning the favor and traveling to their gym on January 7th.
"The holiday meal tastes better going in with a win, but overall, we need this break to get healthy. It's great to get a win but it's great to get some rest and get healthy going into January," Williams said.
More information on the Northwest schedule can be found at nwccrangers.com or you can follow along with Ranger athletics on social media.
