ELLISVILLE – The 21st-ranked Jones County Junior College Lady Bobcats whipped Meridian Community College 76-51 here Monday night at A.B. Howard Gymnasium.
The victory was the 10th straight for JCJC and sets up a showdown vs. division-leading Copiah-Lincoln at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The Lady Wolves, 14-1 overall, are 7-0 in the MACJC South Division and handed JCJC its only loss of the season, 79-68 on Dec. 5 in Ellisville.
JCJC is 15-1 overall and 6-1 in the league.
MCC led 3-2 early when Myyah West (Prentiss) made two free throws with 8:27 left in the first quarter to give JCJC the lead for good. Juliet Esadah's (Warri, Nigeria) layup at 4:32 ended the run and gave the Lady Bobcats a 15-3 lead. JCJC was up 23-10 after the first quarter.
Jones kept up the defensive pressure in the second quarter and expanded the lead to 46-16 with 2:33 left on a Kira Bonner (Quitman) 3-pointer. The Lady Bobcats led 48-18 at halftime.
Zan Ratcliffe's (West Jones) 20-footer gave the Lady Bobcats a commanding 63-26 lead with 1:24 left in the third quarter. MCC closed the gap to 63-31 after three quarters.
MCC outscored Jones 11-2 to start the fourth quarter. JCJC's first field goal of the final quarter did not come until the 4:01 mark when K.K. Tassin (Terry) made a layup to make it 67-42.
The Lady Eagles got within 71-51 when Andriel Moss scored with 1:48 remaining.
Tassin paced JCJC with 19 points – 12 in the second quarter. Alexis Tolefree (Conway, Arkansas) added 18 points – 16 in the first half. Bonner added 13.
Kashari Gordon led Meridian with 18 points.
The Lady Eagles are 8-9 overall and 2-5 in the division.
Meridian goes to Pearl River on Thursday.
 
Monday's game
Ellisville
A.B. Howard Gymnasium
WOMEN
Jones County 76, Meridian 51
Meridian (8-9, 2-5)              10 8 13 20 – 51
Jones County  (15-1, 6-1)   23 25 15 13 – 76
MERIDIAN (51) – Kashari Gordon 18, Rashonae Rice 7, Rokila Wallace 6, Andriel Moss 5, Shannon Tate 5, Qiayon Bailey 4, Halethe Jones 2, Trieshia Jackson 2, Jocelyn Peters 1, Tiana Campbell 1, Mary Maxwell 0, Takerri Cooks 0.
JONES COUNTY (76) – K.K. Tassin 19, Alexis Tolefree 18, Kira Bonner 13, Juliet Esadah 8, Myyah West 6, Kyle Felton 5, Zan Ratcliffe 4, Tatyana Lofton 3, Nique Cherry 0, Hayle Lott 0.