Lady Bulldogs drop narrow decision to JCJC

PERKINSTON – Mississippi Gulf Coast took a tough loss Thursday night, getting edged by Jones County 58-57 in the MACJC South Division opener for both women's teams.

"It was a good game," Gulf Coast coach Jason Conner said. "The kids played hard."

Kamisha Tarvin, who led the Lady Bulldogs (4-2) with 14 points, hit a jump shot with 12.8 seconds left to put Gulf Coast up by two at the Weathers/Wentzell Center. The Lady Bobcats (6-2) got the winning bucket with 5.2 seconds, when Tatyana Lofton nailed a 3-pointer that Gulf Coast's Markeisha Watson said she got a piece of.

Gulf Coast led 37-26 at halftime, but battled foul trouble in the second half. Post players Jasmine Nettles and Hayley Pichon fouled out, and two others finished with four fouls.

Jones made 11 more free throws than Gulf Coast attempted. The Lady Bulldogs finished 2-of-7 from the line, with the Lady Bobcats going 18-of-27.

Watson finished with 11 points, followed by Nettles and Kailin Young had nine points.

Wendion Bibbins and Lofton had 15 points each for JCJC.

Gulf Coast led for most of the game, but a 9-0 run put the Lady Bobcats up 53-48 with 5 minutes left. The Lady Bulldogs sparked a 7-0 run by switching to a three-quarter-court trap to retake the lead and set up the furious finish.

"It swung momentum and got us a shot at winning the game," Conner said.

Gulf Coast returns to action Monday with an away game against Meridian. Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m.