Bulldogs punch ticket to semis with double-digit win

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast put its best foot forward in the first step of the postseason Saturday at Dantzler Arena, easily moving on to the NJCAA Region 23 semifinals. 

The fourth-seeded Bulldogs steadily pulled away from fifth-seeded Meridan, winning 79-58.

"We came out and played as a team from the beginning," Gulf Coast coach Hope Adams said. "The postseason is all about game-planning, so I told them right now we're surviving and advancing. This is the time of the year you really just focus in, lock in and prepare for your opponent. They executed the game plan perfectly, especially offensively."

Gulf Coast (18-6) won the season series over Meridian (24-6) after the teams split two regular-season matchups. The Bulldogs will play Pearl River in the semifinals on Wednesday. Tipoff will be at 7:30 p.m. in Poplarville.

Caleah Kennedy (Fr., Natchez/Natchez) and Taelar Felton (So., Clinton/Clinton) had 20 points each. Ariana Peagler (So., Hoover, Ala./Hoover) added 15.

The Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run late in the second quarter that pushed their advantage to 38-25. The Eagles got it back to 10 points at halftime.

Felton hit a 3-pointer coming out of the break, and Katelyn Brinkley (So., Ridgeland/Ridgeland) had a bucket to quickly push it to a 15-point lead. By the end of the quarter, the lead ballooned to 62-42, thanks to seven points in the final four minutes from Kennedy. 

"Cleah came off the bench and gave us some mega-minutes tonight on both ends of the floor," said Adams. 

The Bulldogs focused their defensive efforts on slowing down Terica Smith. She finished with 15, but the Bulldogs were able to get out and run to beat her down the court and get easier offense. 

Gulf Coast will be looking to avenge a regular-season ending loss to Pearl River. The Wildcats won 61-45 at Perk, and the Bulldogs hope to show better offensively.

"We're a defensive team, and we gave up 58 points tonight, but Meridian can score," Adams said. "Just to see the fact that we were able to put 79 points on the board moving into the semifinals, I think that put us where we can build off that and give us some confidence of what we can do offensively."

NJCAA Region 23 Women's Basketball Tournament

March 5-13

First Round

Thursday, March 5

No. 8 Coahoma 50, No. 9 East Central 49

No. 5 Meridian 83, No. 12 Northeast Mississippi 44

No. 10 Copiah-Lincoln 67, No. 7 LSU Eunice 64

No. 6 Jones 77, No. 11 Holmes 55

Quarterfinals

Saturday, March 7

No. 1 Pearl River 70, Coahoma 53

No. 4 Gulf Coast 79, Meridian 58

No. 2 Itawamba 71, Co-Lin 44

No. 3 Northwest 61, Jones 54

Semifinals

Wednesday, March 11

At Poplarville

No. 4 Gulf Coast vs. No. 1 Pearl River, 5:30 p.m.

No. 3 Northwest vs. No. 2 Itawamba, 7:30 p.m.

Finals

Friday, March 13

At Poplarville

Championship, TBD

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