POPLARVILLE –
LaMiracle Sims (Moss Point) scored six straight points in the final minutes to help No. 10 Jones College defeat Pearl River 70-60 here Thursday night at Marvin R. White Coliseum.
It was the 10th straight victory for Jones and it was the 11th win over Pearl River in their last 12 contests.
The Bobcats are now 16-2 overall and 10-0 in the MACJC South Division. Jones has a two-game lead over Southwest with four games remaining in the regular season.
Sims and
Daja Woodard (Mobile, Alabama) each had double-doubles. Sims had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Woodard had 16 points and 15 rebounds. Guard
Chyna Allen (Harrison Central) came close to a 'triple-double' with 10 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
Keyara Jones (Heidelberg) finished with 14 points.
The game was tied 13-13 after the first quarter. A jumper in the lane by Woodard to open the second quarter gave Jones the lead for good. A layup by Sims gave Jones its largest lead of the opening half at 25-18 with 4:27 showing. The Bobcats led 27-22 at the break.
Leading 31-28 early in the third quarter, Jones went on a 12-0 run to get some breathing room. A free throw by Allen capped the spurt and put the Bobcats up 43-28 with 5:22 left in the quarter.
Jones took its longest lead at 48-30 on Allen's layup with 4:18 left in the third quarter. The Bobcats led 52-42 entering the final period.
Pearl River would not go away and pulled within 61-59 with 3:14 remaining on a 3-pointer by Mychala Linzy. But Sims would score six straight points and give Jones a 67-59 lead with just 1:08 left when she made a layup.
The Bobcats held a commanding 59-34 advantage on the board, including 21 offensive rebounds. Jones outscored PRCC 36-16 on points in the paint.
Jones was 27-of-73 from the field (5-of-20 from 3-point range) for 37 percent. The Bobcats were 11-of-14 from the free throw line.
PRCC was 19-of-62 from the floor 5-of-17 from beyond the arc) for 31 percent. The Wildcats made 17-of-23 free throws.
The Bobcats were called for 21 fouls, compared to 12 for PRCC.
Linzy topped Pearl River with 18 points and Alanna Smith added 15. Shania Wright had 10 rebounds.
Jones will host East Central at 5:30 p.m. Monday in A.B. Howard Gymnasium. The game will be streamed on JCJC.TV.
Pearl River, 11-8 overall and 4-6 in the division, visits Hinds on Monday.
