ELLISVILLE – No. 5 Jones College won an NJCAA Top 10 battle over No. 8 Shelton State (Alabama) here Friday afternoon at A.B. Howard Gymnasium.
The Bobcats built a 17-point first half lead and held off a fourth quarter charge to defeat the Lady Bucs, 69-66.
Jones is now 7-0 on the season and will return to MACCC action with a 6 p.m. Monday home game vs. Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Shelton State falls to 8-3.
The Bobcats came out quickly and took a 22-12 lead after the first quarter.
Daisha Bradford's (Mobile, Alabama) layup with 5:07 to play in the second quarter gave Jones its largest lead of the day at 36-19.
JaKayla Johnson (Clinton) was fouled with no time left on the clock and made a free throw to give Jones a 41-30 halftime lead.
Jones led 55-43 entering the final period.
Jayla Alexander's (Pearl) two free throws with 33 seconds left put Jones up 67-61, but Shelton State's Kirby DeBoard hit a 3-pointer with 24 seconds showing to make it 67-64.
After a timeout, Jones got the ball inbounds to Bradford who was immediately fouled. She made both foul shots with 17 seconds left to make it 69-64. The Lady Bucs misfired on a couple of 3-pointers before Thaniya Marks made a shot in the lane as time expired to account for the final margin.
Bradford led the Bobcats with 21 points. Johnson added 13 with Alexander and
Endia Holliday (South Jones) adding 10 points each.
Holliday and
Kyjai Miles (Dallas, Texas) each had eight rebounds and Alexander had seven. Alexander had four assists and Bradford finished with four steals.
DeBoard had 23 points to top the Lady Bucs. Marks had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Connie Clarke added 13 points.
Jones was 25-of-61 from the floor (3-of-12 from 3-point range) for 41 percent. The Bobcats made 16-of-23 free throws for 70 percent.
The Lady Bucs were 23-of-67 from the field (4-of-19 from 3-point range) for 34 percent. Shelton State only made 16-of-30 free throws for 53 percent.
Jones outrebounded Shelton State, 50-42. The Bobcats turned it over 23 times, compared to 16 for the Lady Bucs.
