EMCC Lady Lions advance to MACJC Tournament women’s championship game
The home-standing Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College claimed their 18th consecutive victory with a 62-53 win over Southwest Mississippi during Wednesday’s semifinals of the MACJC Basketball Tournament being held this week at EMCC’s Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.
SCOOBA -- The home-standing Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College claimed their 18th consecutive victory with a 62-53 win over Southwest Mississippi during Wednesday's semifinals of the MACJC Basketball Tournament being held this week at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.
In improving their overall record to 23-2 on the year, the EMCC women advance to take on three-time reigning MACJC women's champion Jones College in Thursday's championship game. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. on the Scooba campus and will precede the 7:30 p.m. men's title tilt between nationally second-ranked Pearl River and No. 17 Northeast Mississippi.
On the heels of their 53-47 opening-round victory over Mississippi Gulf Coast, the EMCC Lady Lions battled Southwest to a 21-21 stalemate through the opening 20 minutes of play. After the MACJC North Division regular-season champions owned a 16-6 lead following the first quarter, the Lady Bears turned the tables and outscored EMCC, 15-5, during the second period.
Toward the end of an evenly played third quarter, EMCC freshman forward Ja'Mia Hollings scored consecutive baskets around a steal to give the Lady Lions a 34-30 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Their momentum continued into the final period when fellow EMCC first-team all-conference performer Tye Metcalf drilled a 3-pointer from the corner with the shot clock running out to help put the tournament hosts up by six points (38-32) two minutes into the quarter.
Southwest answered with seven straight points by D'Mya Wilson, including consecutive three-point plays, to temporarily take a one-point lead (39-38) with seven minutes remaining. The Lady Lions then responded with a game-deciding 15-1 run over the next four minutes that began with back-to-back 3-pointers by Metcalf and Taylor Lattimore. EMCC's spurt also included another Lattimore trey along with six points by Topazia Hawkins.
Metcalf led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Hollings recorded her 13th double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds for the winners.