Basketball season came to an end for the East Central Community College Lady Warriors, whose second-half rally came up short in an 80-74 defeat to Northwest Mississippi Community College Tuesday afternoon in first-round action of the MACJC State Tournament. The four-day event is hosted by East Mississippi Community College in Scooba.

East Central, which finished 13-11 under fifth-year head coach Bill Smith, trailed by 15 points during second-half action but cut the lead to 79-74 on Hannah Lee’s three-point shot with 20 seconds remaining. But the Lady Warriors – the No. 4 seed in the South - could get no closer and the Lady Rangers, the top-seeded North squad, held on for the win.

Sophomore guard Danielle Cole of Philadelphia led EC with 21 points and 15 rebounds.  Lee, a Leake Academy product from Philadelphia, added 19 points, including four baskets from three-point range.

Also scoring were Yolanda Jones of Lake and Demetria Slocum, a product of Bradford High School in Starke, Fla., nine each; Shantel Neely, of Searcy (Ark.) High School, eight; Xenobia Lavender of Noxapater and Shanequa Bufkin of Scott Central, three each; and Bianca Thomas of Sebastopol, two.

De’Kisha Fondren of Water Valley and Hope Adams of Oxford poured in 16 points each to lead Northwest, which improved to 14-6 and advances to the semi-final round Wednesday.

The Lady Rangers held a 37-36 advantage at halftime.