Lady Wolves suffer first South Division loss to No. 17 JCJC

WESSON – The Copiah-Lincoln Community College Lady Wolves lost in a barnburner Thursday night that ended with a buzzer beater. No. 17 Jones County landed a three-pointer from the right wing of the floor to lift the Lady Bobcats to a 68-66 victory in in front of a rambunctious crowd in Mullen Gymnasium. The loss moves the Lady Wolves to 14-2 on the season and 7-1 in the MACJC South Division. Co-Lin is back in action Monday, Feb. 6 as the Lady Wolves travel to Perkinston to take on Mississippi Gulf Coast. The game is set for 5:30 p.m. and can be heard live at colinathletics.com or WMJU 104.3 FM in Brookhaven.

"There were other opportunities in the game that we could have stopped them by just grabbing rebounds," said head coach Gwyn Young. "It was just one of those games that both teams were battling, but unfortunately we just couldn't execute on the offensive end, especially early in the game."

In the opening half, the Lady Wolves shot only 32 percent, a stark contrast from their performance earlier in the week. Co-Lin appeared to be out of sync throughout the first and second quarter, but continued to battle. The Lady Bobcats extended their lead to seven, the largest of the half, with 7:29 remaining.

Co-Lin found a spark in the final three minutes of play and went on a 10-2 run that gave the Lady Wolves their first lead of the game, 28-27. JCJC responded quickly and netted back-to-back shots that gave the Lady Bobcats a 32-28 lead entering the locker room.

The second half saw back and forth action as both teams began to find the basket. The Lady Wolves fought throughout the third quarter and retook the lead, 42-41 with 2:40 remaining. The lead continued to exchange hands as the quarter wound down with the Lady Bobcat's Tatyana Lofton netting a three-pointer at the buzzer to give JCJC a 51-49 lead.

In the fourth quarter the lead changed six times as both teams' offensives were firing on all cylinders.

With just 2:06 remaining in the contest JCJC stretched their lead to six after a three-pointer. Co-Lin answered with three a 7-0 run led by freshman Brittany Rose. The run gave the Lady Wolves a one-point lead with just 26 seconds remaining.

JCJC regained the lead with nine seconds left after a layup in the paint. The bucket gave the Lady Bobcats a 65-64 lead. Co-Lin's Brittany Rose was fouled on the other end of the floor and knocked down both free throws to give Co-Lin a one-point lead with just three seconds remaining. Jones advanced the ball to half court with a timeout and Alexis Tolefree hit a three-point basket as time expired to give the Lady Bobcats a 68-66 victory.

Rose, a freshman from Jackson, led the Lady Wolves with a career high 31 points. Tenazhia Hinkson netted 10 for Co-Lin and grabbed seven rebounds. Freshman Karry Callahan poured nine points and brought down a team high 14 rebounds, while Caprice Cole added nine points. Diamond Smith finished the night with four points and nine rebounds.

Myyah West led the Lady Bobcats with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Alexis Tolefree, finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Tatyana Loften had 11 points.

Co-Lin shot 36 percent (24-for-66) from the field, 24 percent (5-for-21) from three-point range, and 72 percent (13-of-18) from the free throw line. The Lady Wolves brought down 43 rebounds. JCJC shot 37 percent (25-for-68) from the field, 32 percent (8-for-25) from three-point range, and 58 percent (10-for-17) from the foul line. The Lady Bobcats posted 45 rebounds.