Lady Wolves Surge Past Lady Warriors

WESSON – The Co-Lin Women's Basketball team opened the home portion of their schedule by hosting East Central on Thursday, November 6. The Lady Wolves beat the Lady Warriors, 51-44.

"I am proud of our tenacity in this win," stated Co-Lin head coach Britta Stephens Belanger. "Holding a team to 44 points is very hard to do, so I am pleased with our defensive effort."

The Lady Wolves opened the game on an 8-3 scoring run to hold the lead with 6:19 left in the first quarter. The Lady Warriors responded with a 9-5 scoring run to cut the lead down to 13-12 with 1:53 remaining. However, the Lady Wolves responded by scoring five unanswered points to close out the quarter and hold a 17-12 lead.

The Lady Wolves opened the second quarter with an 8-3 scoring to push their lead to double digits at 25-15 with 6:53 left to play. The Lady Warriors then went on a 5-4 scoring run to cut the lead down to 29-20 with 2:23 remaining in the first half. The Lady Warriors closed out the half with five unanswered points cutting the lead down to 29-25 as the teams entered the locker rooms at halftime.

The Lady Wolves came out in the second half and pushed their lead back to double digits at 36-26 with a 7-1 scoring run with 6:25 left on the clock in the third quarter. The Lady Wolves then used a 6-2 scoring run to grow the lead to 42-28 with 1:58 left to play. The Lady Warriors then closed out the quarter with four unanswered points to cut the lead down to 42-32.

In the fourth quarter the teams matched scoring totals with seven points each as the Lady Wolves held their lead at 49-39 with 4:26 left to play in the game. The Lady Warriors closed out the game by outscoring the Lady Wolves, 5-2, but never cut the lead down to under six points as the Lady Wolves secured the 51-44 victory.

"Our posts were especially good defensively in this game. East Central's post players are very skilled, and we knew that would be a big key for us to win this game," added Stephens Belanger "We still need to work on taking care of the ball more. Our turnovers created opportunities for East Central, and that is something we need to fix."

Akeelah Hobson (Oakdale, Louisiana) led the way for the Lady Wolves with 12 points along with four rebounds, two assists, and one steal while Kamaiyah Pruitt (Pass Christian) narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds along with four steals. Zion Nelson (Byram) had seven points with two rebounds, two steals, and two blocks while Eymani Key (Lafayette, Louisiana) had five points with two rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Jalynn Applewhite (Gulfport), Kailyn Willis (Philadelphia), Tyra Johnson (Morton), and Amari Barnes (Tylertown) had four points each while Maddison Mitchell (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) and Kylinn Bell (Choctaw) had one point each to round out the scoring for the Lady Wolves.

"Zion Nelson had a very good night for us. Her game is going to continue to grow as the season progresses," added Stephens Belanger. "Even though we shot the ball poorly, we did a very good job on the boards, which gave us a lot of second chance opportunities. Kam Pruitt dominated the glass in this game, and I think her best basketball is ahead of her. We won every 50/50 play in this game, and that was the difference for us."

Co-Lin improves to 3-0 on the season and will return to action hosting Baton Rouge on Monday, November 10. Tip-off between the Lady Bears and Lady Wolves is set for 5:30 p.m. at Mullen Gym in Wesson.