ELLISVILLE – Jones County Junior College took the lead for good midway through the third quarter and defeated Hinds 71-58 here Thursday night at A.B. Howard Gymnasium.
With the win, the Lady Bobcats earned the No. 2 seed in the South Division for next week's MACJC Tournament at Itawamba.
The Lady Bobcats and Copiah-Lincoln tied for second in the division with 11-3 records. The teams split their regular season meetings, but JCJC will be the No. 2 seed because it split with division champion East Central, while Co-Lin was swept by ECCC. Southwest is the No. 4 seed from the South.
JCJC will meet the North's No. 3 team, Holmes, on Tuesday at a time to be determined.
The tournament bracket will be announced on Friday.
The victory gives JCJC an 18-5 overall record this season and was also the 500^th career victory for first-year Lady Bobcat head coach Missy Bilderback. Bilderback won 482 games as head coach at Presbyterian Christian School.
JCJC scored the game's first six points and took an 18-8 lead with 2:23 left in the first quarter when Wendion Bibbins converted a 3-point play.
But the Lady Bobcats then went through a 9:47 scoring drought. Hinds took advantage of that and scored 16 straight points and took a 24-18 lead with 3:53 left in the first half when Kaletreon Baker scored.
The Lady Bulldogs would lead 28-27 at halftime.
JCJC would take the lead for good at 36-35 with 4:23 left in the third quarter when Myyah West converted a 3-point play. Tatyana Lofton's basket with 30.1 seconds left in the third quarter ended a 14-2 run and gave JCJC a 47-37 lead.
Hinds got within 61-54 with 2:08 left on a 3-pointer by Alexia Williams. But JCJC went on a 10-2 run and took its longest lead of the night at 71-56 when Hanah Lott made two free throws with 7.1 seconds to play.
Lofton led JCJC with 15 points, while West and Ashailee Brailey had 12 each, Bibbins had 11 and Lott added 10.
The Lady Bobcats were 28-of-57 from the field (4-of-13 from 3-point range) for 49 percent. JCJC was 11-of-13 from the free throw line.
Williams was the only Hinds' player in double figures with 11 points.
The Lady Bulldogs were 19-of-56 from the floor (3-of-9 from 3-point range) for 34 percent. Hinds was 17-of-20 from the free throw line.
Bibbins pulled down 10 rebounds for Jones. The Lady Bobcats outrebounded Hinds, 38-27.
JCJC committed 22 turnovers, compared to 17 for Hinds.
Hinds ends the season with a 10-12 record, 4-10 in the division.
 Sophomore Night
The Lady Bobcats recognized its two sophomores on "Sophomore Night."
The sophomores are Aliyah Bell (Pass Christian) and Wendion Bibbins (New Orleans, Louisiana).

 
WOMEN
Thursday's game
Jones County 71, Hinds 58
HINDS (10-12, 4-10) – Alexia Williams 11, Annessia Durham 9, Kaletreon Baker 9, Harper Newell 7, Areleatha Gipson 6, Hiliary Kemp 6, Isheer Davis 4, Adrianna Kemp 4, Alisha Fortenberry 2, Rolanda Washington 0.
JONES COUNTY (18-5, 11-3) – Tatyana Lofton 15, Myyah West 12, Ashailee Brailey 12, Wendion Bibbins 11, Hanah Lott 10, Aliyah Bell 6, Dana Brown 5, Patrice Tate 0, Anna Wilks 0.
Hinds                         12 16 11 19 – 58
Jones County           18   9 20 24 – 71