Women's Basketball | 2/27/2018 5:39:00 PM
SENABOTIA – The 5
th-ranked Jones County Junior College Lady Bobcats opened play in the MACJC Tournament Tuesday afternoon in impressive fashion.
JCJC scored the game's first 14 points and never looked back in crushing Itawamba 89-59 in a first-round game of the state tournament here at Howard Coliseum on the campus of Northwest Mississippi.
JCJC, 21-3, will play Holmes at noon Wednesday in a semifinal contest. Holmes defeated Southwest 47-43 earlier Tuesday. The game will air on
www.nwccrangers.com/watch.
The tournament championship game will be played at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
Nique Cherry (Heidelberg) set the tone quickly by scoring on a putback at 9:40 to give JCJC a 2-0 lead.
Kira Bonner's (Quitman) jump shot off an
Alexis Tolefree (Conway, Arkansas) assist would make it 14-0 with 5:50 left in the first quarter.
ICC's first point came on a free throw by Lauren Fitch at 5:43 and their first field goal came on a 3-pointer by Shaniyah Buford that made it 18-4 with 3:07 left in the first quarter.
JCJC led 22-8 after the opening period.
Itawamba would get within 31-23 with 3:19 remaining in the first half when Fitch made two free throws.
But Jones went on a 10-2 run and went ahead 41-25 on a Bonner basket with 49.1 seconds showing. The Lady Bobcats led 43-29 at halftime.
K.K. Tassin (Terry) started the second half off with a 3-pointer. A Tolefree 3-pointer gave JCJC its longest lead of the third quarter at 53-31 with 6:40 left.
The Lady Bobcats led 68-48 after the third quarter.
JCJC did not let up in the final period.
Tolefree hit two 3-pointers and converted another 3-point play with 6:23 left to give the Lady Bobcats an 80-51 lead. JCJC's largest lead of the day came when
Jaresa Brooks (North Forest) made a 3-pointer to make it 89-55 with 1:42 to play.
Tolefree topped the Lady Bobcats with 29 points and Bonner added 13. Cherry had 9 points and 8 rebounds.
ZaKyia Weathersby (Collins) had 11 rebounds and
Chrystal Ezechukwu (Stone Mountain, Georgia) had 8 boards. Tassin had 8 assists.
Fitch had 20 for Itawamba, 14-8.
MACJC Tournament
Senatobia
Howard Coliseum
WOMEN
Tuesday's game
Jones County 89, Itawamba 59
Itawamba (14-8) 8 21 19 11 – 59
Jones County (21-3) 22 21 25 21 – 89
ITAWAMBA (59) – Lauren Fitch 20, Constance Dunn 8, Shaniyah Buford 7, Taneshia Miller 6, Eryka Williams 4, Zaria Jenkins 4, Kaylyn Wilson 3, Kiara McCollins 3, Marqueesha Hoskins 2, Darquazha McClatchey 2.
JONES COUNTY (89) –
Alexis Tolefree 29,
Kira Bonner 13,
Nique Cherry 9,
K.K. Tassin 8,
Camryn London 8, Kyia Weathersby 6,
Chrystal Ezechukwu 5,
Mackenzie Thompson 4,
Jaresa Brooks 3,
Maya Jones 2,
Breonca Ducksworth 2,
Madison Bishop 0.
MACJC Tournament
Senatobia
Howard Coliseum
WOMEN
Tuesday's results
Holmes 47, Southwest 43
Jones County 89, Itawamba 59
Northeast 84, Hinds 75
Copiah-Lincoln 70, Northwest 47
Wednesday's games
Noon, Holmes vs. Jones County
5 p.m., Northeast vs. Copiah-Lincoln
Thursday's game
5 p.m., Championship
MEN
Monday's results
Holmes 85, Mississippi Gulf Coast 57
Pearl River 80, East Mississippi 63
Northeast 79, Copiah-Lincoln 73
Northwest 85, Southwest 69
Wednesday's games
2 p.m., Holmes vs. Pearl River
7 p.m., Northeast vs. Northwest
Thursday's game
7 p.m., Championship
