Must Watch Women’s basketball: Coahoma vs Itawamba; Jones vs Meridian

Pictured is Daisha Bradford of Jones College. Photo: Reagan Buckley/Jones College
Pictured is Daisha Bradford of Jones College. Photo: Reagan Buckley/Jones College
Posted: Mar 08, 2021

Two marquee matchups highlight tonight's schedule in Mississippi JUCO women's hoops. Coahoma travels to Itawamba and Jones visits Meridian.

The women's south and north divisions remain very tight. Coahoma has won five straight to bolt into second place in the north while Itawamba has won four in a row and sits atop the division.

Coahoma won the first meeting against ICC back on February 8 by a score of 79-77. Four Lady Tigers hit double figures in that game led by Braylin Tate who had a solid outing. Tate poured in 18 points and hauled down 10 rebounds. Tate was also 10 out of 12 from the free throw line. Jurnee McLaurin had 17, Ayani Cockrell added 15, and Mary Wilkins scored 12 points in the victory. CCC guard Jurnee McLaurin leads the league in points per game with 18.3. Guard Mary Wilkins is fifth in the conference in 3pt Fg Pct at 37 percent.

Itawamba was led by sophomore point guard Shomaria Overton who rung up 20 points while freshman guard Demetria Shephard added 12 and freshman guard R'Daztiny Harris chipped in 10 points against Coahoma last month. This is a crucial game, especially for Itawamba, due to the loss to Coahoma earlier this season.

 In the south division, No. 2 Jones and Meridian jump it up. It is the other marquee matchup of the night. JC outscored Meridian 19-9 in the fourth quarter in their last meeting on February 8 to win 66-56. For Jones, redshirt sophomore guard Daisha Bradford is fifth in the conference averaging 14.7 points per game and she is pulling down 7.7 rebounds a night, which is good for fourth in the conference.

For Meridian, sophomore guard Sidney Sims is third best in the league averaging 15.3 points per game. Sophomore center Mia Moore is fourth in the league in Fg Pct at 53.3 percent. Meridian needs this win tonight if they want to keep their chances alive for a south division crown.

As for No. 2 Jones, they are again very talented and battled tested. Head Coach Missy Bilderback is in her sixth season at Jones and finished 24-4 last season. Bilderback has led the Bobcats to four straight NJCAA Division I Tournament appearances. Bilderback continues to fine-tune a program that is razor sharp. Jones has been one of the best programs in the country in recent years and is the team to beat in the conference.

Click below for tonight's full basketball slate.

http://www.jucoweekly.org/sports/wbkb/composite?date=2021-03-08

 

Mike Frazer

JUCOWeekly.com