November 30, 2021
A strong second and third quarter was the difference-maker for the East Central Lady Warriors on Monday night, Nov. 29, as the team topped the Coastal Alabama-North Lady Eagles, 60-56, in front of a noisy home crowd in Decatur. The victory moved the Lady Warriors to 4-3 on the year and gives the team some momentum heading into the MACCC play beginning on Thursday.
The first quarter seemed to be going in ECCC's favor in the opening minutes as a 5-0 lead quickly appeared on the scoreboard, but it was short-lived as a 7-0 Coast Alabama run put the Lady Eagles in front seven minutes into the game. The teams traded baskets for the final three minutes with Coastal taking an 11-10 lead into the second quarter.
The Lady Eagle lead grew in the second frame to a game-high six, 22-16, for Coastal Alabama. A pair of free throws from Sylvia Jones (Brighton, Tenn.) steadied the ship for ECCC and sparked an 11-0 run that lasted nearly the remainder of the first half. The scoring onslaught saw baskets from Mirial Cannon (Madison), Mer'Cades Miller (McComb), and Wynter Taylor (Dallas, Texas), and allowed ECCC to take a 27-22 lead into the locker room at the break.
The Lady Eagles came back swinging in the third and tied the game at 31-all four minutes into the frame, the fourth tie of the night, but a Taylor three-pointer put the momentum back in the Lady Warriors' corner. After the three, ECCC outscored the Lady Eagles 13-5 to close out the third quarter with a 47-38 lead.
Coastal Alabama stuck around in the final 10 minutes of action and sliced the Lady Warrior lead down to just three, but a basket from Taylor and some strong put-back shots from Myeisha Scott (Jackson) held off the Lady Eagles, securing the 60-56 ECCC win.
Jones led the Warriors with 20 points and five assists, while Taylor finished with 15. Scott finished with her second double-double on the year after scoring 11 points and leading the team with 13 rebounds, 10 of which were offensive boards. The Lady Warriors finished the night shooting 31 percent from the floor and 73.3 percent from the free-throw stripe.
The Lady Warriors travel to Poplarville this Thursday, December 2 to take on the Pearl River Community College Lady Wildcats in the conference opener. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
