DECATUR – Nique Cherry (Heidelberg) and K.K. Tassin (Terry) each had 'double doubles' to lead the No. 21 Jones County Junior College Lady Bobcats past East Central Community College 96-74 here Thursday night at a packed Brackeen-Wood Physical Education Building.
Cherry had 14 points and 20 rebounds, while Tassin had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
It was JCJC's ninth straight victory, as they improved to 14-1 overall and 5-1 in the MACJC South Division.
The teams swapped leads five times early in the first quarter before JCJC took the lead for good at 10-8 on a 3-pointer by Tatyana Lofton (Madison-Ridgeland Academy) at the 5:52 mark. Jones led 20-16 after the first quarter.
After ECCC's Curtisha Coleman scored to start the second quarter, the Lady Bobcats took command with a 17-3 run. Cherry's 15-footer gave JCJC a 37-21 lead with 5:05 left in the second quarter.
A putback by Tassin with 12 seconds left gave Jones a 48-29 lead going into halftime.
The Lady Bobcats took their longest lead of the third quarter at 51-29 with 8:39 remaining when Alexis Tolefree (Conway, Arkansas) made a free throw. The Lady Warriors trimmed the margin to 63-48 after three quarters, but they would never get any closer.
Tolefree's layup with 4:51 left gave Jones an 81-59 lead.
Tolefree led Jones with 21 points, while Juliet Esadah (Warri, Nigeria) had 15 and Lofton finished with 12. Zan Ratcliffe (West Jones) was credited with 11 assists, Tassin had six and Cherry had four. Cherry also had four steals.
Coleman paced East Central with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Autumn Taylor added 17, Shantavis Hughes had 11 and Bryona Stewart had 10. Hughes also had 10 assists.
There were 58 fouls called in the game – 34 on JCJC and 24 on ECCC. Cherry, West, Ratcliffe and Kyle Felton (Lithonia, Georgia) all fouled out for Jones. Three players fouled out for the Lady Warriors.
JCJC was 37-of-75 from the field (9-of-22 from 3-point range) for 49 percent. The Lady Bobcats were 13-of-24 from the free throw line.
ECCC was 22-of-61 from the floor (4-of-21 from 3-point range) for 36 percent. The Warriors shot a whopping 45 free throws and made 26.
The Lady Bobcats dominated the glass, outrebounding ECCC, 58-31. JCJC committed 23 turnovers, compared to 18 for the Lady Warriors.
East Central drops to 9-6 overall, 3-3 in the division.
JCJC will host Meridian at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. The game will air on www.jcjc.tv.
East Central visits Hinds on Monday.
 
Thursday's game
Decatur
Brackeen-Wood Physical Education Building
WOMEN
Jones County 96, East Central 74
Jones County (14-1, 5-1)    20 28 15 33 – 96
East Central  (9-6, 3-3)       16 13 19 26 – 74
JONES COUNTY (96 ) – Alexis Tolefree 21, Juliet Esadah 15, Nique Cherry 14, K.K. Tassin 14, Tatyana Lofton 12, Myyah West 7, Kira Bonner 6, Kyle Felton 6, Zan Ratcliffe 1, Hayle Lott 0.
EAST CENTRAL (74) – Curtisha Coleman 27, Autumn Taylor 17, Shantavis Hughes 11, Bryona Stewart 10, Aniyah Marshall 7, Kaylin McCree 2, Laneisha Jeans 0, Holly Hendershot 0.