Women's Basketball | 3/10/2017 12:29:00 AM
CLINTON – The 14
th-ranked Jones County Junior College Lady Bobcats took the lead for good midway through the fourth quarter and defeated Itawamba 70-65 here Thursday night in the Region 23 Tournament semifinals in the A.E. Wood Coliseum on the campus of Mississippi College.
The Lady Bobcats will meet Hinds in the championship game at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Hinds downed Northeast 83-71 in a semifinal game.
The game will air on
www.jcjc.tv.
The women's Region 23 champion will go to Lubbock, Texas, for the NJCAA Division I National Tournament, which will be held March 20-25.
JCJC won its 22
nd straight game and improved to 27-1, but it was not easy vs. ICC.
Itawamba jumped out to a 15-7 lead with 4:04 left in the first quarter when Jabria Pounds scored. JCJC fought back and took a 19-17 lead with 1:09 showing when
Nique Cherry (Heidelberg) scored off an offensive rebound, but ICC's Grace Elliott hit a 3-pointer to give her team a 20-19 lead after the first quarter.
The lead would change hands seven times in the second quarter. But JCJC scored the half's final six points, capped by a
Tatyana Lofton (Madison-Ridgeland Academy) drive to the goal with :03 showing to give Jones a 36-32 halftime lead.
Lofton's 10-footer with 6:34 left in the third quarter gave JCJC a 41-36 lead. But ICC responded with a 10-0 run and took a 46-41 lead with 4:08 showing when Pounds made two free throws.
JCJC tied the game at 46-46 when
Alexis Tolefree (Conway, Arkansas) made a layup, but the Lady Indians would take a 55-52 lead into the final quarter.
ICC held a 61-58 lead when Tolefree scored on another layup. JCJC took the lead for good when Lofton converted a 3-point play with 4:44 left to make it 63-61.
The Lady Bobcats took their longest lead of the game with 34 seconds left when
Kira Bonner (Quitman) made two free throws to make it 69-63.
ICC's Marlee Hatcher made two free throws with 28.5 seconds to play and
Zan Ratcliffe (West Jones) made one foul shot to give Jones a 70-65 lead.
After ICC missed a shot, JCJC grabbed the rebound. The Lady Indians did not foul over the final 16 seconds to stop the clock and the game ended.
Cherry had a tremendous game, scoring 22 points and unofficially grabbing 25 rebounds, including numerous offensive boards. Lofton added 20 and Tolefree had 18, as that trio combined for 60 of JCJC's 70 points.
Hatcher led Itawamba with 17 points. Pounds added 16, AaLiyaha Thornton had 11 and Zaida Cox finished with 10.
The Lady Indians end the season at 17-8.
Region 23 Tournament
Thursday's game
Clinton
A.E. Wood Coliseum
WOMEN
Jones County 70, Itawamba 65
Itawamba (17-8) 20 12 23 10 – 65
Jones County (27-1) 19 17 16 18 – 70
ITAWAMBA (65) – Marlee Hatcher 17, Jabria Pounds 16, AaLiyaha Thornton 11, Zaida Cox 10, Asia Partlow 6, Grace Elliott 3 Lauren Fitch 2
JONES COUNTY (70) –
Nique Cherry 22,
Tatyana Lofton 20,
Alexis Tolefree 18,
Myyah West 5,
Kira Bonner 4,
Zan Ratcliffe 1,
K.K. Tassin 0,
Juliet Esadah 0.
Region 23 Tournament
Clinton
Mississippi College
A.E. Wood Coliseum
WOMEN
Tuesday's results
Game 1, Northeast 64, Southwest 55 (OT)
Game 2, Hinds 75, Southern-Shreveport 64
Game 3, Jones County 96, East Central 70
Game 4, Itawamba 76, Copiah-Lincoln 61
Thursday's results
Game 5, Hinds 83, Northeast 71
Game 6, Jones County 70, Itawamba 65
Friday's game
Game 7, Championship, Jones County vs. Hinds, 5:30 p.m.
