POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The No. 14 Pearl River women's basketball dominated in the second half Monday night in the Region 23 Quarterfinals against LSU Eunice to advance to the Semifinals for a fourth consecutive season. The Wildcats took down the Bengals 70-49.

"Hats off to Eunice — they were extremely well-coached and very athletic," head coach Scotty Fletcher said. "They were averaging 74 points, and their season low was 50. Our goal was to hold them under that, and we succeeded.

"We were a little tight early on, and we weren't playing free. I told the girls at halftime that they needed to start playing free and trust their abilities."

The Wildcats will now face No. 5 seed Mississippi Delta, who upset No. 4 seed Northeast 69-68. PRCC and MDCC will square off Friday night at 5:30 p.m. inside Marvin R. White Coliseum. Pearl River earned the right to host the Semifinal and Championship by winning the MACCC crown. More information about the Region 23 Semfinal and Championship will be made available soon.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Pearl River (24-2 overall) opened the night on a 9-1 run, using 3-pointers from Jae'la Smith (Vicksburg; Porter's Chapel) and Jazmine Jackson (Jacksonville, Fla.; Andrew Jackson) to help reach that point. PRCC led by eight points again soon after on Jackson's second 3-pointer of the quarter, 12-4.

LSU Eunice (20-10) roared back late in the quarter, cutting Pearl River's lead down to five points at 19-14. The switch in momentum seemed to spark the Bengals as they built out a 24-19 advantage early in the second quarter, holding PRCC scoreless until the 3:50 mark in the frame.

Paris Gilmore (Youngstown, Ohio; Warrensville Heights) got PRCC back on track with an acrobatic play. The guard caught the ball in the lane, used a jump step to create space and then jumped again and knocked down a layup. The guard immediately hit a jumper on the next possession, and PRCC trailed by one, 24-23.

The Wildcats didn't retake the lead until only 51 seconds remained as Jackson hit a free throw. Gilmore gave the Wildcats some more juice just before the buzzer sounded, banking in a 3-pointer to send Pearl River into the locker room ahead 33-29.

The Wildcats opened the third on a 9-0 swing to storm ahead 42-29. The run included five points from Jackson and a beautiful pass down low to Sydney Lewis (Upper Marlboro, Md.; McLean School) from Natasha Barnes (Chicago, Ill.; Kenwood Academy) for a basket.

The Wildcats stretched out a 49-35 advantage before the quarter wrapped up to head into the final 10 minutes up by 14. The shots continued to fall throughout the fourth for PRCC as the Wildcats received point contributions from Barnes, Gilmore, Lewis, Mikayla Riley (Tupelo) and Jackson to outscore the Bengals 21-14 in the frame — leading PRCC to a 70-49 victory.

LEADING THE WAY
Jackson finished the game with 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting. She knocked down five 3-pointers and hauled in six rebounds. She added three assists and two steals. 

Lewis was one rebound shy of a double-double, hauling in nine and scoring 16 points. 

Gilmore also had 16 points in the game. She added four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

"Paris' point guard play was the difference tonight," Fletcher said. "Her presence and leadership were phenomenal. She's just been in a good place lately."

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