MCC can't slow down No. 9

By Chris Brennaman / Assistant Sports Editor

CLINTON — Latoria Holder scored 19 of her season-high 33 points in the second half as No. 9 Copiah-Lincoln Community College routed Meridian Community College 78-59 Wednesday night in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament.

The freshman guard shot 61 percent from the floor, which included knocking down 5-of-6 shots from beyond the arc. Her five 3-pointers were the only ones of the game for the Lady Wolves.

MCC (22-9) made only one basket — a 3-pointer by LaQuita Burrough — in the first 6 minutes of the contest as the Lady Eagles fell behind 10-3 and played catch-up the entire game.

"We never could make any runs," said Meridian coach Hilary Allen. "After halftime, we were able to cut it to six. I was hoping that would be the time we could start to turn it around. We prepare all year to try to make those first 5 minutes of the second half important. We just weren't able to push back and close like I'd hoped we'd be able to."

The first field goal of the second half for the Lady Eagles came at the 13:55 mark when Burrough dropped in a shot and was fouled. The 6-foot-2 freshman was unable to complete the 3-point play and MCC was still in a 12-point hole.

Meridian shot just 26 percent in the second half and only slightly better (31 percent) in the first. Co-Lin, was knocking down shots at a nearly 50 percent clip.

For a stretch of nearly 5 minutes in the second half, Holder was the only Co-Lin player to make a shot, single handedly outscoring Lady Eagles 14-8.

"Holder is a very good player," Allen said. "(Co-Lin coach Gwyn Young) has so many weapons. They run a nice offense and will run a lot of time off the clock. You have to be patient on defense."

Holder also finished the game with 11 rebounds and was one of two Lady Wolves to notch a double-double. Shareka Hunt totaled 11 points and pulled down 10 boards. Rachel Vigers tacked on 12 points in the win.

"I have to give a lot of credit to Co-Lin," Allen said. "They are very physical and aggressive on defense. They play a different style of ball than most teams do. And they were the better team tonight."

Former Meridian High standout Tiara Parker led the Lady Eagles with 14 points, while Philadelphia product Tiara Logan added a dozen.

"Tiara Parker has been the heart and soul of this team," Allen said. "When I had a talk with the team a few weeks ago, I told Tiara Logan that she was the key. We knew what to expect from some of the other players, but how well she played was going to determine how far we made it. Tonight, she played really well."

Both Parker and Logan connected on a pair of 3-pointers for the Lady Eagles, who finished the night 6-of-22 from downtown.

With the loss, the season comes to a close for MCC, which entered the Region 23 Tournament as the Miss-Lou Conference champion.

"Essentially we finished third in the region," Allen said. "And to finish third in a region with 20 colleges is a compliment.

"We will lose some key sophomores like Tiara Parker, but we were able to get a lot of freshmen a lot of minutes tonight. In junior college, the recruiting never seems to stop. You're always rebuilding and restocking. Now we just have to go out and try to get some more good players."

The Lady Wolves advance to today's title game against East Mississippi at 6 p.m. Co-Lin beat the Lady Lions by 19 in both meetings this season.