Women's Basketball | 3/11/2017 1:43:00 AM
CLINTON – The 14th-ranked Jones County Junior College Lady Bobcats are headed to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament for the first time in school history.
The Lady Bobcats whipped Hinds, 85-67, here Friday night at the A.E. Wood Coliseum in the Region 23 Tournament championship game.
JCJC is now 28-1 overall and has was 23 consecutive games.
The NJCAA Division I Women's National Tournament will be March 20-25 at the Rip Griffin Center on the campus of Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas.
The women's tournament bracket will be released on Monday.
All games in the tournaments will air on
www.njcaatv.com.
JCJC never trailed in beating Hinds for the fourth time this season.
A
Tatyana Lofton (Madison-Ridgeland Academy) basket with 4:35 left in the first quarter gave Jones a 14-9 lead. JCJC led 24-15 after the first quarter.
A Zyaire Ewing basket pulled Hinds within 32-25 with 5:04 left in the first half, but that would be as close as the Lady Bulldogs would get.
Kyle Felton's (Lithonia, Georgia) basket with 30 seconds showing gave the Lady Bobcats their longest lead of the first half at 46-27. Jones led 46-29 at halftime.
Nique Cherry's (Heidelberg) 12-footer put JCJC ahead 50-29 with 8:58 left in the third quarter. Hinds would go on a 17-6 and get within 56-46 with 1:47 to play in the third quarter when Octavia Barnes scored. Jones would lead 61-46 after three quarters.
The Lady Bobcats took its longest lead of the game at 70-48 with 7:14 to play when Lofton made a layup. The Lady Bulldogs never got closer than 79-62 down the stretch.
Cherry had 25 points and 7 rebounds, while
Alexis Tolefree (Conway, Arkansas) had 24 points, including three 3-pointers. Lofton had 12 points and 7 rebounds.
Cherry and Lofton made the All-Tournament Team.
Myyah West (Prentiss) had 8 rebounds, while
Zan Ratcliffe (West Jones) had 6 assists and Tolefree had 4 steals.
JCJC was 33-of-62 from the field, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range, for 53 percent. The Lady Bobcats were 12-of-22 from the free throw line.
Hinds was 25-of-66 from the floor, including 4-of-17 from 3-point range, for 38 percent. The Lady Bulldogs were 13-of-20 from the free throw line.
Hinds outrebounded Jones, 42-36. The Lady Bulldogs had 23 turnovers and Jones had 22.
The Lady Bulldogs end the season at 21-7.
Region 23 Tournament
Friday's games
Clinton
A.E. Wood Coliseum
WOMEN
Jones County 85, Hinds 67
Hinds (21-7) 15 14 17 21 – 67
Jones County (28-1) 24 22 15 24 – 85
HINDS (67) – Octavia Barnes 26, Areleatha Gipson 12, Ernesha Chapman 8, Rickera Martin 6, Hillary Kemp 5, Kristy Armwood 3, Isheer Davis 3, Zyaire Ewing 2, Twila Hill 2, Olivia Jorden 0, Kaletreon Baker 0, Alisha Fortenberry 0, Adriana Kemp 0.
JONES COUNTY (85) –
Nique Cherry 25,
Alexis Tolefree 24,
Tatyana Lofton 12,
K.K. Tassin 9,
Zan Ratcliffe 7,
Kyle Felton 6,
Myyah West 2,
Kira Bonner 0,
Juliet Esadah 0,
Madison Bishop 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 result
Game 7, Championship, Jones County 85, Hinds 67
