SUMMITT, Miss.-- The Pearl River Lady Wildcats bounced back in a big way Monday night when they won a "must win" road contest against Southwest 57-49. 

 

The Lady Wildcats (15-7, 8-5 MACJC) had to win Monday night in order to keep their state playoff hopes alive and while it was not the prettiest win, they got the job done.

 

"I told the girls tonight we are playing for something big," Pearl River coach Scotty Fletcher said. "This group of girls deserves to be in the playoffs with the way they work and they showed that. We as a staff know which games are critical and we told the girls this was a must win." 

 

For PRCC the start to the contest was less than ideal. 

 

Southwest (8-14, 3-10 MACJC) came out shooting lights out from the field in the first half especially from behind the 3 point lane. 

 

The Lady Bears took a 14-7 lead heading into the second quarter. 

 

Pearl River battled back, however, heading into halftime only down by one in a tightly contested 26-25 contest. 

 

BREAKING IT OPEN 

It was in the third quarter where the Lady Wildcats really flourished. 

 

PRCC went on runs of 9-0 and 5-0 in the third quarter to take a commanding 43-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

 

Fletcher felt his team's transition play set the tone for the second half. 

 

"Our transition offense is what broke this game away. We were very effecient with our transition offense tonight," Fletcher said. "I thought we got key stop. We're continuing to get multiple stops consecutively."

Southwest scrapped back to cut the PRCC lead to six at one point in the fourth quarter but the Lady Wildcats slammed the door shut on the Lady Bears in the last few minutes to pull out the 57-49 victory. 

 

LEADING THE WAY 

The Lady Wildcats got big play from guards Jakia Harper (Jackson; Provine) and Alanna Smith (Picayune) who scored 12 and 11 points respectively. 

Smith also recorded six boards on the night. 

 

"Jakia was great tonight. She had 12 big points," Fletcher said. "But the player of the game for us was Alanna Smith. She put in that work tonight." 

 

Gabby Brown (Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; Choctaw High) only scored five points but Fletcher pointed out that Brown stood out with her leadership Monday night. 

"Gabby's leadership was absolutley huge tonight for us," Fletcher said. 

 

UP NEXT 

Pearl River has a busy Thursday planned for the final home game of the 2018-19 season on Thursday. The Lady Wildcats and Wildcats will celebrate Sophomore Night in between the 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. starts. The Wildcats will also honor the 2017-18 State Champs with a banner raising. All high school students also receive free admission to the games.

Both games will be broadcast on WRJW 1320 AM as well as streamed on PRCCAthletics.com.

 

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