Lady Wolves Come Up Just Short Against Lady Bulldogs

WESSON – The Co-Lin Women's Basketball team returned to MACCC play by hosting Holmes on Monday, January 27. The Lady Bulldogs squeaked past the Lady Wolves with a 63-62 win.

"I am proud of our fight that we showed in a tough loss," stated Co-Lin head coach Dr. Britta Stephens. "Defensively, I thought we played very well, but we did a poor job on the defensive glass. We had a poor shooting night from the three-point line and that combined with being outrebounded proved costly."

The Lady Wolves came out red hot to start the first quarter as they outscored the Lady Bulldogs, 8-2, to hold a lead by that margin with 6:41 left on the clock. The Lady Wolves then went on another 8-2 scoring run to push their lead to 16-4 with three minutes remaining. The Lady Bulldogs responded with a 6-4 scoring run to close out the quarter while the Lady Wolves held a 20-10 lead.

The Lady Bulldogs opened the second quarter with a 7-6 scoring run cutting the Lady Wolves lead to 26-17 with 6:50 remaining on the clock. The Lady Wolves responded with a 5-4 scoring run to make their lead 31-21 with 3:49 left to play in the quarter. The Lady Bulldogs then closed out the first half with nine unanswered points as the Lady Wolves held a 31-30 lead as the teams entered the locker rooms at halftime.

The Lady Bulldogs opened the third quarter with a quick 6-2 scoring run to take a 36-33 lead with 6:54 left to play. The Lady Bulldogs then used a 6-5 scoring run to push their lead to 42-38 with 3:40 remaining. However, the Lady Wolves closed out the quarter with a 6-3 scoring run to cut the lead down to 45-44 heading into the fourth quarter.

The teams matched scoring outputs with eight points each to make the score 53-52 with 7:02 left on the clock. The Lady Bulldogs then went on an 8-7 scoring run to make their lead 61-59 with just under two minutes to play in the game. After the Bulldogs increased their lead to three points with a made free throw, the Lady Wolves then tied the game with a three-pointer by Jamyria Robinson (St. Martin) with 42 seconds remaining. The Lady Bulldogs then regained the lead with ten seconds to play while the Lady Wolves could not get a potential game-winning shot off before the final buzzer for the final score of 63-62.

"Kiersten Haynes and Chrystance Walters were both sparks off the bench for us in this game," added Stephens. "Chrystance gave us momentum in the first half while Kiersten provided that in the second half. Maddison Mitchell was outstanding defensively for the entire game."

Angel Wilkinson (Brookhaven) led the way for the Lady Wolves as she led all scorers with 18 points along with five rebounds and six assists. Jamyria Robinson and Kiersten Haynes (Clinton) had ten points each while Robinson narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds and two blocks and Haynes had three rebounds and four assists.

Kamaiyah Pruitt (Pass Christian) had seven points with six rebounds and two assists while Chrystance Walters (Pearl) had six points. Kylinn Bell (Choctaw) had four points, Kaylee Johnson (Booneville) had three points, and Maddison Mitchell (Baton Rouge, LA) had two points to round out the scoring for the Lady Wolves.

Co-Lin is now 11-8 overall, 1-3 in conference play, and will return to action on the road at Jones on Thursday, January 30. Tip-off between the Lady Wolves and the Bobcats is set for 5:30 p.m., at A.B. Howard Gymnasium in Ellisville.