Women’s Basketball Pushes to Qualify for Conference Tournament
The Choctaws ended last week on a win streak, determined to advance to conference tournament play.
The Mississippi College women’s basketball team went 2-0 last week against fellow Gulf South Conference teams West Alabama and Alabama Huntsville.
The Choctaws’ first game of the week against West Alabama tipped off at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 8. The teams went tit for tat, exchanging leads three times throughout the first quarter. The Choctaws won the first quarter with a score of 16-14; the second quarter proved similar to the first, although more low-scoring. The Choctaws scored 10 to West Alabama’s 8, leading to a score of 26-20 at halftime.
Throughout the third quarter, Amelia Bell and Kyiah Julian took turns scoring. Mississippi College won the quarter by just two points. The fourth quarter was tight as West Alabama made their push to stay in the game. West Alabama scored 23 points, only three more than in the other three quarters combined. However, the last quarter would not be enough to push them over the edge. The Choctaws secured the victory 53-49.
While the Choctaws scored 25 of their points off turnovers, West Alabama only scored 9. Bell and Karly Ivy led the team in scoring with 18 points and 14 points, respectively. Julian finished with 13. Bell also led the team in steals with four. Julian was close behind her with three steals.
The team finished up the week with a Saturday afternoon game against the Alabama Huntsville Chargers. Mississippi College was ranked ninth in the conference, with Alabama Huntsville in tenth. Both teams were fighting to break the top eight to make it to the conference tournament.
Mississippi College took an early lead, scoring within the first nine seconds. Bell stole the ball at tip off and laid it in. In the early stages of the game, Mississippi College held the lead. The Chargers battled to take control of the game, but the first quarter ended with the Choctaws up 18-16.
In the second quarter, the Chargers took over 26-25. The Chargers stayed on top until the tense final minutes of the second quarter. MC’s Keller Bigham sank a three for the Choctaws to go up 36-34. Elyse Hughes from the Chargers quickly retaliated, tying up the score at 36-36. Finally, Kyiah Julian sank a buzzer beater jump shot, sending the Choctaws up 38-36 at the end of the half. Julian and Bigham led the scoring at halftime with 10 points apiece.
The Choctaws started the third quarter out strong. They managed to extend their lead to 10, a differential they would mostly keep for the rest of the game. When the Choctaws extended the lead, the Chargers were unable to recover. They had three players in foul trouble late in the third. In the end, the Choctaws secured the victory with a score of 64-54.
Amelia Bell and Karly Ivy ended up leading the scoring with 19 and 17 points respectively. The Choctaws are now 9-10 in conference and 10-12 overall. After the week, the team is now on a three game win streak.
The Choctaws are now ranked eighth in the GSC, an advancement that will send them to the conference tournament if they can hold their position.
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