EMCC Lady Lions close out hoops season with 60-49 first-round setback at Delta in Region 23 tourney
The 12th-seeded East Mississippi Community College women’s basketball team couldn’t quite recover from an early double-digit deficit in dropping a 60-49 road decision to fifth-seeded Mississippi Delta during Thursday’s opening round of the NJCAA Region 23 Women’s Basketball Tournament played at J.T. Hall Coliseum.
MOORHEAD – The 12th-seeded East Mississippi Community College women's basketball team couldn't quite recover from an early double-digit deficit in dropping a 60-49 road decision to fifth-seeded Mississippi Delta during Thursday's opening round of the NJCAA Region 23 Women's Basketball Tournament played at J.T. Hall Coliseum.
Making their second postseason tournament appearance in three seasons under the direction of head coach Isaiah Butler, the Lady Lions trailed the entire 40 minutes of action during the season's EMCC-MDCC rematch. Exactly one month prior (Feb. 6), East Mississippi claimed a 49-41 road win over Mississippi Delta in Moorhead.
The home-standing Lady Trojans controlled much of the return game by jumping out to a 23-6 advantage by the end of the opening quarter. The margin was still at 17 points (27-10) when EMCC came alive to score 14 unanswered points and pull to within three points (27-24) on Dukiaha Jones' 3-pointer late in the second quarter.
The visitors outscored Delta, 18-7, during the second quarter to trail by only six points (30-24) heading into intermission.
Following a third quarter that the Lady Trojans won by a slim 13-11 margin to claim a 43-35 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play, EMCC managed to cut Delta's eight-point lead in half a couple of times during the fourth quarter. Raegan Jordan's made trey at the 2:41 mark trimmed the margin to four points (51-47), but Delta's Layla Carter answered right back with a 3-pointer of her own.
After Jordan's pair of free throws with 1:43 remaining cut the deficit to five points (54-49), the Lady Trojans proceeded to score the game's final six points to secure the 11-point win and advance to play at fourth-seeded Northeast Mississippi in second-round tournament action on Monday (March 10).
Completing the season with a 10-17 overall record and 5-9 conference mark, EMCC's Lady Lions were led in their season finale by Kennedi Wagner's 12 points on three 3-pointers and 3-of-4 free throws. Jordan and Jones followed with nine and eight points, respectively, for EMCC.