November 2, 2022
The East Central Community College Lady Warriors moved to 1-0 on the year on Tuesday night, Nov. 1, with a 79-40 victory over Wallace Community College Selma. The win marks the first victory for new head coach Betsy Harris.
The Lady Warriors took the lead just three and a half minutes into the contest on a pair of free throws from Kennedee Shelton and the team never looked back as the Lady Warriors maintained that advantage until the final buzzer.
ECCC led 18-11 after the first quarter of play, but that lead exploded in the second as the Lady Warriors outpaced the Lady Patriots, 26-8. The point differential came from stellar shooting beyond the arc from Cori Keats and Lexus Keyes. On the defensive end, the Lady Warriors held the Lady Patriots scoreless for the final five minutes of the second quarter to take a 44-19 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter was much of the same in the early minutes as the Lady Warrior defense locked down WCCS for the first four minutes. Eventually, the Lady Patriots broke the 26-0 scoring onslaught and sparked a scoring run themselves in the final minutes of the third. However, the Lady Warriors came back to life in the fourth and ran away with the 39-point victory.
ECCC finished the night 27-of-81 from the floor, 8-of-37 from three-point range, and 17-of-25 from the free throw line while WCCS was held to just 17-of-64 from the floor and 3-of-20 from deep. The Lady Warriors out-rebounded the Lady Patriots, 58-51.
Shelton led the Lady Warriors in scoring with 16 points, nine of which came from the free throw line, while Keats added 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting from three-point range. Leilaya McMillian and Faith Guy rounded out double-digit scorers with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Mady Buckley led the team in rebounds with 10, while five Lady Warriors dished out three assist each.
The Lady Warriors are back in action on Monday, Nov. 7, as the team plays host to the Northeast Mississippi Community College Lady Tigers in Brackeen-Wood Gymnasium at 6 p.m. That game can be seen live at www.eccclive.com/gold.
