EMCC Lady Lions fall to host Gulf Coast and Baton Rouge in hoops tourney action at Perkinston

PERKINSTON – In a contest featuring 15 lead changes, the visiting Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College dropped a hard-fought 53-48 decision to 23^rd-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Tuesday afternoon in second-day action of the Gulf Coast Classic held at Weathers/Wentzell Center.       

After opening the two-day event with Monday's 71-59 setback to Baton Rouge Community College, head coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lady Lions jumped out of the gates Tuesday by taking a quick 5-0 lead over host Gulf Coast.  Once the Lady Bulldogs took their first lead midway through the half, the two teams battled through seven more lead changes heading into the halftime break.  The final lead change of the half resulted in EMCC's first halftime lead (23-22) of the young season when Takera Mitchell found fellow freshman Leah Isabelle for a fast-break basket as time expired.

Just as they did in the opening half, the Lady Lions grabbed an early five-point advantage (27-22) following intermission on back-to-back buckets from Nockeyia Qualls.  Over the next couple of minutes, three consecutive scores by MGCCC's Markia Nix put the home team on top (30-29) for the first time in the second stanza.   

The two teams then engaged in six more lead changes and two deadlocks over the next eight minutes, before the Lady Bulldogs claimed the advantage for good on a jumper by Hellanisa Young and two free throws by Nix.  Gulf Coast's margin grew to six points (47-41) on a 3-pointer by Samara Dingiswayo with five minutes remaining in regulation.

The EMCC women, now 1-5 on the year, made a valiant attempt to trim the lead during the final minute of play.  With the Lady Lions still down by six points (51-45), Mitchell's 3-pointer cut the deficit in half with 33.7 seconds left on the game clock.  However, Nix was promptly fouled in the backcourt and stepped to the charity stripe to essentially ice the contest with her game-high 19^th and 20^th points.  EMCC was relegated to a pair of unsuccessful three-point attempts during the waning seconds.

Mitchell, from Wayne County High School, was the Lady Lions' lone double-digit scorer with 13 points against Mississippi Gulf Coast.  Freshman post player Savannah Kimmons, who paced EMCC with 16 points in Monday's setback to Baton Rouge, added eight points versus MGCCC.

Following the Thanksgiving holiday break, the East Mississippi basketball teams return to the court on Monday (Nov. 26) by traveling to Rome, Ga., to take on Georgia Highlands College in a men's/women's doubleheader.  EMCC and GHC opened the current season earlier this month (Nov. 1) in Scooba, with the Lions, now 2-1, recording an easy 97-57 victory in the men's game and the visiting Lady Chargers claiming an 84-60 triumph over the EMCC women.