SENATOBIA - The Northwest Mississippi Community College women's basketball team (16-8, 7-3) beat Hinds Community College (5-18, 2-9) by a score of 77-57 in a game that saw the Rangers lead the entire way through.
In the first quarter, NWCC exploded offensively. The Rangers hit four three-pointers in the quarter, including a signature Dekyra Mitchell shot at the buzzer. Alorian Story shot 57% from the floor to accumulate eight points in the first quarter. Northwest scored 33 points in the first quarter. 33 points is the most the Rangers have scored in a quarter all season.
Both the Rangers and Bulldogs struggled offensively in the second quarter, scoring seven and five points, respectively.
Due to their exceptional first quarter, NWCC took a 19-point lead into the half.
The third quarter saw another offensive explosion for Northwest with the team scoring 22 points in the quarter. The Rangers were not the only team that increased their offensive production in the third quarter. The Bulldogs scored 19 points in the frame.
Although Hinds outscored Northwest 18-13 in the fourth quarter, the NWCC lead was already substantial enough that the Rangers comfortably won the matchup.
Since the Rangers were able to get out to such a significant lead so early, they saw some players come off of the bench and get valuable playing time. This allowed the starters to get much needed rest with their third game this week being played on Saturday against Copiah-Lincoln in Wesson.
Every player that saw game action scored with three players scoring in double figures.
"Going into the playoffs you kind of want to have a rotation," Head Coach LaTaryl Willams said. "You want to have some depth because right now everybody is tired. Everybody is banged up."
Although Story only accumulated six rebounds, she still led all scorers with 17 points.
In her first start since her knee injury in December, sophomore Takera Bland scored 12 points and garnered six rebounds. Bland was named the NWCC Player of the Game.
The things that got Bland going were quite simple, but she was able to execute them perfectly.
"Getting to the open looks. Reading the defense well for me," Bland said. "Keeping my team motivated. Telling them, we got it. Even though the second quarter wasn't the best quarter for us, but we came back and turned it around."
The Rangers are sitting at 2-0 in a week that is without a doubt the hardest of their season. The team will look to continue this moment when they visit Co-Lin on Saturday.
"We're trying to play our best basketball going into the playoffs. That's the message we're going to try to hammer home every night, every day, every time we step on the court," Coach Williams said.
Northwest will travel to Wesson on Saturday, February 21 to take on the Copiah-Lincoln Wolves (13-8, 5-5) at 1 p.m. A live stream of the game can be found at https://colinathletics.com/general/live_stream.
To stay up to date on the NWCC women's basketball team, follow the Ranger social media accounts or go to nwccrangers.com.
