by Michael D. Gunnell
Southwest Sports Information
The Lady Bears started 2019 on a winning note Monday night as they outlasted the visiting Mississippi Delta Lady Trojans 69-64 for their fourth straight win.
The Lady Trojans (2-8) took an early 5-0 lead before the Lady Bears came back to go up 6-5 on a Ty Lee bucket with 7:46 left in the opening quarter. The teams then traded leads four times and were tied five times before the home team took a 26-21 lead into the second quarter.
A pair of Tootie Rankin layups allowed the Lady Bears to take their biggest lead of the half, 38-28, with 2:54 left in the second quarter. The Lady Trojans trimmed their deficit to 40-34 with 0:51 on the clock before Lee scored to send the Lady Bears into intermission with a 42-34 advantage.
Rankin and Mylicia Harness scored combined to give the Lady Bears (6-4) a seemingly comfortable lead, their largest of the night, at 46-34, with 8:34 to play in the third quarter. The Lady Trojans refused to give in, however, scoring 13 of the final 19 points of the quarter to cut the Lady Bears' lead to 52-57 with one quarter still to play.
The Lady Bears led 65-56 in the fourth quarter before seeing the Lady Trojans pull to within 67-64 with 0:45 on the clock. The visitors would get no closer, however, as a pair of Jamaya Galloway free throws, with 0:05 to go, sealed the win.
"Ty had another good night for us, offensively, and Terralyn Ulmer gave us a spark," said Lady Bears head coach Brent Harris. "But, overall we did no rebound very well and we did not finish well inside or at the free throw line. We did change defenses effectively."
Galloway topped the Lady Bears' offense, and led all scorers in the game, with 14 points (she also recorded nine assists). Lee scored 12 points while Rankin was also in double figures with 11 points. The Lady Bears hit 20 of 40 free throws.
Shammia Love scored 13 points to pace the Lady Trojans. She and her teammates combined to go 12-23 at the free throw line.
The Lady Bears remain home for their next contest as they reenter South Division play Thursday night with a 5:30 matchup versus the Lady Eagles of Meridian.