Lady Wolves Drop Contest to Lady Rangers

WESSON – The Co-Lin Women's Basketball team returned to action with a home conference matchup against Northwest Mississippi. The Lady Wolves showed strong fight throughout the game, but came up short against the Lady Rangers, 78-68.

"Despite the loss, I was very pleased with how well we rebounded the basketball," said Co-Lin head coach Dr. Britta Stephens. "Specifically, I think we did a great job on the defensive boards in this game."

The Lady Wolves and Lady Rangers opened the game with a frantic first quarter as the teams traded baskets, but ultimately the Lady Wolves held an 8-7 lead with just under six minutes of play left. The Lady Rangers then responded with an 8-5 scoring run to close out the quarter and hold a 15-13 lead over the Lady Wolves.

The Lady Wolves responded with a quick 8-2 scoring run over the opening minutes of the second quarter to take a 21-17 lead with close to eight minutes left. However, the Lady Rangers responded with a 9-2 scoring run to retake the lead at 26-23 with just under five minutes remaining in the quarter. The Lady Wolves then closed out the first half with a 9-4 scoring run to take a 32-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Lady Wolves carried that momentum over to the third quarter with an opening scoring run of 9-4 to increase the lead to 41-34 with eight minutes left to play. The Lady Wolves then went on a 9-3 scoring run to grow their lead over the Lady Rangers to 50-37 with around four minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Lady Rangers then closed out the quarter with a 15-2 scoring run tying the game at 52-52.

The Lady Rangers then outscored the Lady Wolves 26-16 in the fourth quarter to secure the 78-68 win.

"I was very disappointed in our inability to finish this game after building a 13-point lead in the third quarter," stated Stephens. "Down the stretch, we missed a lot of easy shots and gave up far too many transition baskets. 17 missed layups in this game proved incredibly costly for us."

Ceara Myers (Baton Rouge) led the way for the Lady Wolves posting a double-double of 13 points and ten rebounds while Lashaunte Payne (Magee) shared the team lead in points at 13 and had seven rebounds. A'Shante Fleming (Canton) had ten points and seven rebounds.

Sequoia Bouldin (Hattiesburg) and Angel Wilkinson (Brookhaven) had eight points each while Kiesten Haynes (Clinton) added six points on the night. Jamea Smith (Jackson) had four points with Kayla Howard (Shaw) and Myla Harbor (Ferriday, LA) adding three points apiece to round out the scoring for the Lady Wolves.

"Ceara Myers was once again a force offensively and on the glass for us. The past four to five games, she has been playing some of her best basketball and we need her to continue to do so," added Stephens. "Losing Kayla Howard to injury during this game was a big blow for our team. She is our floor general and has done an excellent job of running our team all season and we missed her leadership late in this game."

Co-Lin is now 8-6 overall, 0-2 in conference play, and will return to action on the road against Southwest Mississippi on Thursday, November 25. Tip-off between the Lady Wolves and the Lady Bears is set for 5:30 p.m., in Summit.