Top 25 Battle Set for MCC and ECCC Women

(MERIDIAN) - A much-anticipated MACJC South Division battle will ensue in Meridian on Monday evening, as the 25th-ranked Meridian Lady Eagles play host to the 18th-ranked East Central Lady Warriors.

The MCC Lady Eagles carried a 10-game win streak into its most recent game against ECCC on January 10th in Decatur, but the result of that tilt was a 79-76 setback for MCC. Still, the Lady Eagles are a stellar 16-3 overall, 6-2 in division play and have beaten the likes of East Mississippi, Mississippi Gulf Coast and Southwest Mississippi along the way. The Lady Eagles are coming off an 83-65 road win over Hinds Thursday night.

As for East Central, it has won seven of its last eight outings to improve to 16-2 overall and a 7-1 division best mark. The Lady Warriors are coming off an 86-78 decision over Jones County on Thursday, and their most notable wins to date have come over Copiah-Lincoln, East Mississippi, and Meridian. ECCC is up four spots from No. 22 to No. 18 in the national poll.

In the first meeting between these two teams, ECCC took an early advantage by leading the entire first half and taking a 37 -28 lead into halftime. MCC fought back but a failed game-tying 3-point attempt fell off the mark and ECCC secured a 79-76 win over Meridian. The Lady Warriors were led to victory by Mystee Dale who scoed 25 points. NaDosha Strickland and Jennifer Wair scored 16 points a piece to lead MCC’s scoring efforts.

The ECCC/MCC battle will also have South Division implications as both teams are #1 and #2 in the standings respectively. ECCC leads the division with a 7-1 record while MCC is alone in second pace at 6-2, just one game behind ECCC. The top four teams from the South Division advance to play in the MACJC State Tournament February 25-28.

Tip-off for the women’s showdown is slated for 6 p.m. from the Graham Gymnasium, the men play following at 8 p.m. The games will be broadcast on WMER 1390 AM and the audio also heard on Comcast Cable Channel 12.