SCOOBA – No. 10 Jones College used a dominant second quarter to defeat Northwest Mississippi 71-62 here Tuesday afternoon in the opening round of the MACJC Tournament.
Jones, 20-3, will face Itawamba at 1 p.m. on Wednesday in a semifinal game here at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the East Mississippi Community College campus. ICC downed Pearl River 67-66 in overtime in a quarterfinal game. The Bobcats have also clinched a spot in next week's Region 23 Tournament at Mississippi College.
Keyara Jones (Heidelberg) had 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists for Jones.
Destiny Haymer (Holmes County Central) had 18 points and six assists.
Jatyjia Jones (Pontotoc) had a 'double-double' with 13 points and 10 rebounds and
LaMiracle Sims (Moss Point) had her 12th double-double of the season with 12 points and 18 rebounds.
Daja Woodard (Mobile, Alabama) had eight rebounds.
Northwest led 21-13 with 28 seconds in the first quarter after a Tamarah Sykes jumper.
Chyna Allen's (Harrison Central) 3-pointer cut the lead to 21-16 at the end of the first quarter.
A 3-pointer by Haymer ended an 18-0 run and gave the Bobcats a 31-21 lead with 3:48 remaining in the first half. Jones outscored Northwest 19-5 in the second quarter and led 35-26 at halftime as Haymer made a jumper at the buzzer.
The Bobcats took their longest lead of the game at 45-33 with 3:52 left in the third quarter when
Keyara Jones hit a jumper. But the Rangers trimmed the lead to 52-47 at the end of the third quarter.
Jones maintained the lead in the final period, but Northwest pulled within 64-60 with 2:22 to play on a layup by Kayla Freeman.
Keyara Jones quickly answered with a 3-pointer.
Jatyjia Jones and Haymer followed with two free throws each, as Jones took a 71-60 lead with just 33 seconds to play.
The Bobcats ended up shooing 26-of-76 from the floor for 34 percent and they made 7-of-27 3-pointers for 26 percent. The Rangers were 22-of-64 from the field for 34 percent and 7-of-25 from beyond the arc for 25 percent.
Jones held a 55-42 rebounding advantage.
Freeman led Northwest with 19 points. The Rangers fall to 15-9 on the season.
