Women's Basketball | 1/19/2018 12:11:00 AM

SUMMIT – A strong defensive effort lifted No. 6 Jones County Junior College to victory here Thursday night at Holmes Gymnasium.
The Lady Bobcats held Southwest Mississippi without a field goal for 8:30 of the second quarter and went on to defeat the Lady Bears, 69-52.
While the Lady Bobcats put the clamps on Southwest defensively, the duo of Nique Cherry (Heidelberg) and Alexis Tolefree (Conway, Arkansas) proved to be too much to handle on the offensive end.
Cherry, an East Carolina signee, ended the game with 24 points and Tolefree, an Ole Miss signee, had 22 to spark the Lady Bobcats.
Cherry had another 'double double'', pulling down 15 rebounds and Kira Bonner (Quitman) had 8 boards. Breonca Ducksworth (West Jones) and Mackenzie Thompson (East Rankin Academy) each had 3 assists.
JCJC was 28-of-55 from the floor (6-of-17 from 3-point range) for 51 percent. JCJC was 7-of-13 from the free throw line. 
Southwest was 16-of-42 from the field (3-of-12 from 3-point range) for 38 percent. The Lady Bears were 17-of-19 from the free throw line.
JCJC outrebounded Southwest by a whopping 49-19 margin.
Southwest led 8-4 midway through the first quarter, but Bonner's layup off an assist by Mackenzie Thompson (East Rankin Academy) with 1:02 left gave Jones a 12-11 lead heading into the second quarter.
Ty Lee's putback gave the Lady Bears its final lead of the game at 13-12 with 9:14 left in the second quarter. Ducksworth's ayup with 1:14 left in the first half gave JCJC a 21-14 lead.
Southwest's Keturah Bingham hit a 3-pointer with 44 seconds showing – just the second field goal of the second quarter for the hosts – to make it 21-17. Cherry's layup with 26 seconds remaining put JCJC up 23-17 at halftime.
The Lady Bobcats extended the lead in the third quarter. Tolefree's 3-pointer with 5:28 showing gave JCJC a 37-26 lead. Jones led 44-35 after three quarters.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Bonner and Tolefree put JCJC up 52-36 with 7:48 to play. The Lady Bobcats' longest lead of the evening came when Chrystal Ezechukwu (Stone Mountain, Georgia) scored off a K.K. Tassin (Terry) assist with 3:34 to make it 67-45.
The Lady Bobcats improved to 10-2 overall and 3-0 in the MACJC South Division with the win.
Danyelle Lewis led Southwest, 10-2 and 1-2, with 15 points.
JCJC hosts Pearl River at 1 p.m. on Saturday at A.B. Howard Gymnasium. The game will air on www.jcjc.tv. This game was originally scheduled for Jan. 16, but was postponed because of inclement weather.
Southwest visits Meridian on Saturday.

Thursday's game
Summit
Holmes Gymnasium
WOMEN
Jones County 69, Southwest 52
Jones County (10-2, ­3-0)        12 11 21 25 – 69
Southwest (10-2, 1-2)             11  6   18 17 – 52
JONES COUNTY (69) – Nique Cherry 24, Alexis Tolefree 22, Kira Bonner 8, Chrystal Ezechukwu 6, Breonca Ducksworth 4, Kira Bonner 3, Camryn London 2, Maya Jones 0, Mackenzie Thompson 0, Jaresa Brooks 0, ZaKyia Weathersby 0.
SOUTHWEST (52) – Danyelle Lewis 15, Keturah Bingham 8, Jamaya Galloway 7, Rachel Thompson 6, Ty Lee 6, Amari Pittman 4, Tootie Carter 4, Mylicia Harness 2, Kacie Fountain 0, Peyton Papenburg 0, Nia Henderson 0, Tootie Rankin 0, Daysia Dedeaux 0.