EMCC Lady Lions drop pair of decisions in Northeast Mississippi Thanksgiving Classic
The East Mississippi Community College women’s basketball team dropped a pair of decisions during the Northeast Mississippi Thanksgiving Classic held last week at Bonner Arnold Coliseum on the Northeast Mississippi Community College campus. The Lady Lions rebounded from a 94-57 Thursday defeat at the hands of Calhoun CC to give 17th-ranked Chipola College a solid test before falling 70-53 in Friday’s tournament action.
BOONEVILLE – The East Mississippi Community College women's basketball team dropped a pair of decisions during the Northeast Mississippi Thanksgiving Classic held last week at Bonner Arnold Coliseum on the Northeast Mississippi Community College campus. The Lady Lions rebounded from a 94-57 Thursday defeat at the hands of Calhoun CC to give 17th-ranked Chipola College a solid test before falling 70-53 in Friday's tournament action.
In bouncing back from Thursday's tourney opener against Calhoun, the EMCC women led Chipola for much of the opening 25 minutes of action. Six first-half three-pointers, including a trio of first-quarter treys from Kennedi Wagner, helped provide the Lady Lions with a slim 16-15 edge following the first 10 minutes. Kennedi McCray's pair of free throws and subsequent driving basket to the rim gave EMCC a brief 30-25 lead within the final minute of the first half.
Capped by Je'Niecia Hill's three-pointer, the Lady Lions increased their two-point halftime lead to 37-30 with a 7-2 run to begin the second stanza. The Lady Indians responded with 10 unanswered points to reclaim the lead and move ahead by five points (46-41) at the end of the third quarter.
EMCC answered by scoring the first five points of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 46-46 following a Dukiaha Jones trey and two free throws by Zantasheia Mallett. After an exchange of three-point baskets, Chipola proceeded to pull away for the 17-point win by closing out the contest with a 20-4 spurt over the game's final 6:34.
McCray totaled 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists versus Chipola, while Wagner and Jones added nine and eight points, respectively, for the Lady Lions.
In opening the Northeast Mississippi-hosted tournament, the EMCC women held their own through the opening 10 minutes against Calhoun by battling back from an early 17-9 deficit to make it a three-point game (19-16) at the quarter break.
The Lady Warhawks essentially put the game away by scoring the first 18 points of the second quarter to jump out to a 21-point advantage (37-16) before EMCC could get on the board in the quarter. The Lady Lions did manage to trim the margin to 16 points (41-25) with an 8-0 run late in the half, but that's as close as they would get the remainder of the contest.
EMCC's lone bright spot offensively against Calhoun was Coahoma transfer Kennedi Wagner, who scored a season-high 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field.
Coach Isaiah Butler's 3-5 EMCC Lady Lions will return from the Thanksgiving holiday break to meet sixth-ranked Shelton State, Dec. 5, in Tuscaloosa before playing host to Holmes, Dec. 9, in a non-conference matchup at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus.