March 1, 2022
The East Central Community College Lady Warriors had the 2021-22 season come to a close on Monday night, February 28, as the Lady Warriors fell to Baton Rouge Community College in a challenging road contest. The game, a first-round NJCAA Region 23 Tournament matchup, featured the No. 12 seed Lady Warriors and No. 5 seeded Lady Bears. ECCC dropped the game 52-41 to finish the year 11-11, 7-7. Baton Rouge moves on to face Southwest on Tuesday, March 1 for second-round action. The semifinals and finals will be on Thursday and Saturday, March 3 and 5 at Mississippi College in Clinton.
A 12-4 BRCC run was the difference-maker in the first quarter of play on Monday as the Lady Bears built an early, substantial lead. the Lady Warriors were not deterred, and under Coach Williams' leadership, battled back to cut the game to six, 18-12 going into the second.
That fierce comeback bled into the second quarter as ECCC fired off six straight points in the opening five minutes of the frame to knot the game at 18-all. The game of runs continued as the Lady Bears responded with an eight-point swing that allowed BRCC to take a 28-22 advantage into the break.
After the break, the Lady Bears built their lead as they outpaced ECCC 18-7. Turnovers plagued the Lady Warriors in the 10-minute stretch. Those turnovers combined with minimal second chances on the offensive end of the floor allowed the Lady Bears to take a 46-29 lead into the final quarter.
ECCC doubled up the Lady Bears in the fourth quarter as the Lady Warriors showed no quit in the final 10 minutes of play. The Lady Warriors went on to outscore the Lady Bears 12-6 down the stretch, but it was not enough as BRCC hung on to win 52-41.
