Lady Indians face Southwest MS to open MACJC tournament

Lady Indians face Southwest MS to open MACJC tournament
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com

FULTON, MS – The Itawamba Community College women's basketball team will enter the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College (MACJC) State Basketball Tournament as the No. 2 seed from the North and will face the Southwest Mississippi Community College Lady Bears Monday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m. at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, MS.

"Southwest is a very good basketball team," said ICC head basketball coach Nanci Gray. "The South (Division) is extremely tough with four teams that could have very easily finished as the second seed. We are going to have to be ready to go from the opening tip and play our best game to the final horn."

The Lady Indians (15-8, 9-3 MACJC North) finished second in the North after Northwest Mississippi Community College (18-5, 9-3 MACJC North) defeated Holmes Community College (10-13, 5-7 MACJC North) on Thursday while the Lady Bears (14-9, 7-5 MACJC South) enter postseason play as the No. 3 seed out of the South Division.

Freshman guard Katrina Littlepage leads the Lady Bears in scoring with 13.4 points per game along with fellow freshmen Fredrikah Wilson and April Levy averaging over 10 points per game.

"Southwest presents you with a lot of threats on offense," said Gray. "They crash the boards and do an outstanding job moving the ball to find the open person for a lot of high percentage shots. They really make you work on the defensive side of the ball so we will have to be physically and mentally ready for the challenges they'll present us all night long."

The Lady Bears average 52.3 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game and score nearly 65 points each night they take the floor.

"We are going to have to match their intensity on both sides of the floor," Gray commented. "Playing fundamentally sound by blocking out to keep teams off the boards, protecting the ball to limit turnovers and just playing smart basketball is always the keys to winning when you start postseason play."

The winner between the Lady Indians and Lady Bears will take on the winner between Copiah-Lincoln Community College and Mississippi Delta Community College on Wednesday, February 27 at 3:00 p.m. in the semifinals with the championship game scheduled for Thursday, February 28 at 5:00 p.m.

The Lady Indians have qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 23 tournament next week at Mississippi College in Clinton.

You can listen to Monday night's game on WAFM 95.7 FM (Amory) starting with the Davis Ford Pregame Show starting at 6:40 p.m. The games will also be available at www.fm95radio.com and www.ihigh.com/iccathletics.

To keep up with the Lady Indians during the state tournament follow ICC Athletics on Twitter (@LetsGoICC).