MGCCC Women hit the road in R23 Tourney

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast will hit the road for its first game in the NJCAA Region 23 Women's Basketball Tournament on Monday.

The Bulldogs (14-9) travel to Wesson to play Copiah-Lincoln in the tournament's second round. Tipoff will be at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed at https://colinathletics.com/general/live_stream. 

Gulf Coast hasn't played since the regular-season finale last week, and the Bulldogs been working on their own game.

"Our main focus is on execution and what we want out of our offense and what we want to accomplish on defense," Gulf Coast coach Hope Adams said. "We have not struggled when we're putting out max effort on defense. I think we're a great man-to-man defense, and we have great on-ball pressure, maybe the best in the league. We have to tweak some things about understanding where shooters are when we're in a zone."

The teams will be playing exactly two weeks after their regular-season contest in Wesson. Gulf Coast led 71-69 before a controversial traveling call gave the Wolves the ball with 0.7 second left. Zykeria Anderson banked in a desperation 3-pointer to claim the win.

Sharisse Bridges (So., Jackson/Callaway) had 14 points and 13 rebounds despite fouling out with five minutes to play. Morgyn Payne (So., Coushatta, La/Red River) had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists. Aniya Saddler (So., Columbus/Columbus) had 12 points, and Elsie Harris (So., Mobile, Ala./B.C. Rain) added 11.

Anderson finished with 24 points while shooting 3-of-6 from the 3-point line and 8-of-12 from the field. Aniya Sanders was the only other Co-Lin player in double-digits with 18, and she had 10 rebounds. 

"The girls played hard," Gulf Coast coach Hope Adams said. "We had been struggling for a couple weeks leading up to that game. They came out and gave max effort, and we got a lot of energy off the bench. The defense was good in spurts, but they shot 36 free throws. We've got to understand we have to be disciplined on defense."

The teams last played in the postseason in 2019. The Bulldogs and Wolves met in the Region 23 semifinals in Clinton, and it was one to remember for Gulf Coast.

Gulf Coast trailed by five points before Adams brought a super-sub off the bench.

"I remember when Briana Thompson came in and knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers that got us on a run and got us to the finals," Adams said. "Honestly, I feel like with us working this week, the atmosphere in practice and the focus, they understand the importance of next week. They know what's on the line and what we're trying to accomplish."

NJCAA Region 23 Women's Basketball Tournament

First Round

Friday, Feb. 25

No. 19 Holmes at No. 14 Delgado

Saturday, Feb. 26

No. 17 Southern-Shreveport at No. 16 Northeast Mississippi

No. 18 Hinds at No. 15 Mississippi Delta

Second Round

Monday, Feb. 28

Northeast/ Southern-Shreveport winner at No. 1 Pearl River

Delta/Hinds winner at No. 2 Coahoma

Holmes/Delgado winner at No. 3 LSU Eunice

No. 13 Meridian at No. 4 Southwest Mississippi

No. 12 East Central at No. 5 Baton Rouge

No. 11 East Mississippi at No. 6 Jones

No. 10 Gulf Coast at No. 7 Copiah Lincoln

No. 9 Northwest Mississippi at No. 8 Itawamba

Second Round

Tuesday, March 1

Games played at highest-seeded team

Itawamba/Northwest winner vs. Shreveport/Northeast/Pearl River

Gulf Coast/Copiah-Lincoln winner vs. Delta/Hinds/Coahoma winner

East Mississippi/Jones winner vs. Holmes/Delgado/LSU Eunice winner

East Central/Baton Rouge winner vs. Meridian/Southwest winner

Semifinals

Friday, March 4

Played at A.E. Wood Coliseum, Clinton

Final

Saturday, March 15

Played at A.E. Wood Coliseum, Clinton

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.