POPLARVILLE –
Sakyia White (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) did all she could do to help Jones College advance in the MACCC Tournament.
White, a 6-foot-1 forward, scored 30 points and pulled down 22 rebounds to help the Bobcats defeat Copiah-Lincoln 70-63 in the tournament quarterfinals here Monday afternoon at Marvin R. White Coliseum.
The win moves Jones, 16-7, into a semifinal match at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday vs. Northwest. The Rangers upset homestanding and top-seeded Pearl River 70-68 in overtime Monday. Regardless of how Jones fares in the remainder of the conference tournament, the Bobcats will host a Region 23 Tournament game on Feb. 28.
The Bobcats found themselves down 60-58 with less than two minutes to play.
Olivia Knight (Pearl) made two free throws with 1:56 to play to tie the score. White then converted a 3-point play at 1:13 and added a pair of free throws with 50 seconds to play to make it 65-60.
After Knight made a free throw, Co-Lin's Madelynn Webster made a free throw to make it 66-61 with 29 seconds to play. White answered with two more free throws at the 27 second mark and Knight put the game out of reach with two more free throws with 19 seconds remaining.
The Bobcats opened the game in good fashion, taking a 15-4 lead with 4:18 showing in the opening quarter on a Knight 3-pointer. But the Wolves fought back and tied it at 19-19 after the first quarter.
Jones would lead 31-28 at halftime and the Wolves would tie it up at 48-48 entering the final quarter.
Knight had 14 points and four assists with
Meloney Thames (Choctaw Central),
Jordan Clark (South Jones) and
Nakyah Jones (Mobile, Alabama) adding eight points each. Thames had seven assists and Clark finished with six rebounds.
Aniya Sanders led Co-Lin with 23 points and 10 rebounds, Webster added 13 points and Tandria Minor finished with 10 points.
Jones made 24-of-56 shots from the field for 43 percent, 5-of-17 3-pointers for 29 percent and 17-of-22 free throws for 77 percent. Co-Lin hit 21-of-63 shots from the floor for 33 percent, 1-of-12 3-pointers for 8 percent and made 20-of-29 free throws for 69 percent.
The Bobcats outrebounded Co-Lin, 47-35, and had 19 assists compared to 14 for the Wolves. Jones committed 21 turnovers and Co-Lin had 11.
Jones outscored Co-Lin on points in the paint, 34-32, and had 18 fast break points compared to just four for the Wolves.
Coahoma will meet East Mississippi in Wednesday's other semifinal game at 1 p.m. On Monday, Coahoma beat Itawamba, 68-56, and East Mississippi surprised Southwest, 61-54.
Co-Lin, 16-8, will host a Region 23 Tournament game on Feb. 28.
