EMCC Lady Lions rally to earn 72-67 overtime road win at Lawson State
After trailing a majority of the game, the visiting Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College rallied to earn a 72-67 overtime road win over Lawson State during Saturday afternoon’s non-conference women’s basketball action played at the Arthur Shores Fine Arts Building on the LSCC campus.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After trailing a majority of the game, the visiting Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College rallied to earn a 72-67 overtime road win over Lawson State during Saturday afternoon's non-conference women's basketball action played at the Arthur Shores Fine Arts Building on the LSCC campus.
In addition to avenging their hard-luck 75-73 home loss to the same Lady Cougars squad just two days prior in Scooba, the Lady Lions also handed Lawson State its first loss of the year in seven decisions.
In the rematch, the home-standing Lady Cougars scored the game's first seven points on the way to owning a 17-10 lead by the end of the opening 10 minutes of play. By outscoring Lawson State, 18-12, in the second quarter, EMCC was able to cut the deficit to a single point (29-28) on Zarria Shipp's buzzer-beater heading into the halftime break.
Following intermission, Micaiah Satcher's three-pointer early in the second half knotted the score at 31-31. Lawson State responded with seven unanswered points to go back up, 38-31, by the 6:38 mark of the third quarter. The tightly contested rematch entered the fourth quarter with the Lady Cougars owning a slim 44-41 lead.
The Lady Lions tied the score two more times early in the quarter before Lawson State moved back ahead, 56-51, with three minutes remaining in regulation. EMCC answered with a 9-2 run to take its first lead of the game (59-58) on La'dymein Lafayette's basket on a feed from Kennedi Wagner with 1:21 left. After the teams both hit 1-of-2 free throws on consecutive trips to the line, Satcher's subsequent charity toss gave the visitors a two-point edge (61-59) with 10.6 seconds left. Lawson State's Breona Walker knotted the score on a contested drive to the basket with two ticks left to send the contest into overtime.
EMCC took control of the game during the extra session by scoring the first seven points of overtime on a Dukiaha Jones pull-up jumper, Wagner's put-back basket and Satcher's three-pointer. The Lady Cougars attempted to make a late comeback of their own with a pair of made treys during overtime, but four clutch free throws divided between Kennedi McCray and Shalea Boddie down the stretch sealed the five-point comeback win and snapped the Lady Lions' three-game losing skid.
Jones finished with a team-high 20 points while adding five rebounds and four steals. Satcher followed with 10 points, while Lafayette approached a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds. Wagner also added nine points in the winning effort.
Coach Isaiah Butler's 3-3 EMCC Lady Lions will next compete in this week's (Nov. 21-22) Northeast Mississippi Thanksgiving Classic in Booneville. They are slated to meet Calhoun Community College on Thursday (5 p.m.) and 17th-ranked Chipola College on Friday (2 p.m.) at Bonner Arnold Coliseum on the NEMCC campus.