Bulldogs rally for clutch road win

Mississippi Gulf Coast trailed by double-digits with six minutes left Thursday in Booneville, but a clutch rally erased the deficit, and the Bulldogs maintained a share of the MACCC lead.

Gulf Coast unleashed a 13-0 run to erase an 11-point deficit, and Ariana Peagler (So., Hoover, Ala./Hoover) and Taelar Felton (So., Clinton/Clinton) hit clutch 3-pointers late for the win. The Tigers didn't make a field goal in the final six minutes.

"The team just came together and rallied up with some defensive stops," Gulf Coast coach Hope Adams said. "We were able to execute offensively, where we had been struggling the whole game just to generate some buckets. But there at the end, we came together and decided that we weren't gonna lose that game."

Felton led Gulf Coast with 13 points, as the Bulldogs survived a cold-shooting night by forcing an even worse performance by the Tigers. Roniya Ellis (Fr., Natchez/Natchez) had eight of her 10 points in the first half to keep Gulf Coast in the game.

The Bulldogs improved to 16-4 and are tied with archrival Pearl River at 10-1 atop the MACCC standings. NEMCC is 10-16, 4-7.

Northeast hit a bucket with 6:38 that put the Tigers up 39-28, and the comeback began with a steal by Felton and a Katelyn Brinkley (So., Ridgeland/Ridgeland) layup. Vannah Wilson (Fr., Bossier City, La./Parkway) made a free throw, and Ellis rebounded a 3-pointer.

Wilson made a free throw to cut the deficit to seven, then blocked a shot at the other end. Felton hit a 3-pointer, and Wilson got a layup with 3:21 left. Felton's steal led to a 3 by Peagler with 2:38 left that gave Gulf Coast a 40-39 lead. She added a free throw 30 seconds later.

The Tigers tied it up with a pair of freebies with 1:43 left, and Felton's 3 with 53 seconds left made it 44-41 to give Gulf Coast the lead for good.

"This team has very high potential," Adams said. "We were down some players, like they were, but I gotta get credit to Northeast; they're a tough team. They run their stuff well as to be down by 11 going into the fourth quarter."

Gulf Coast shot 34.9 percent from the field, but NEMCC made only 13-for-62 shots from the field for 21.0 percent, including 3-for-29 from behind the arc.

The Bulldogs will celebrate Sophomore Night on Monday when Northwest Mississippi visits Perkinston. Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m., with ceremonies taking place after the women's game. The game will be streamed at https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch, and tickets are available at http://mgcccbulldogs.com/tickets.

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.