Lady Indians’ zone stymies East Central in win

DECATUR, Miss. – A rare change on the defensive side of the ball helped the Itawamba Community College Lady Indians pick up a 60-42 conference win over the East Central Community College Lady Warriors on Thursday.

The Lady Indians (9-3, 4-0 MACCC) have long been known for their tough man-to-man defensive brand of basketball, but a switch to running a pressure-zone style of defense proved to be a major key in the victory.

"They came in with the game plan to pound the ball in the paint," said Coach Robin Porter. "When we switched to the zone it slowed them down, especially with them driving to the basket."

The Lady Indians defense forced 23 turnovers on the night.

"Creating points off turnovers was big for us," said Porter. "MeMe [Amelya Hatch] was able to get in the open floor and create a lot of scoring opportunities for teammates."

Hatch (Ripley) finished the game with 8 points and 8 assists. The sophomore has dished out 25 assists in the last three games, including a career-high 10 dimes in a win over Coahoma.

Nadia Gillespie (Olive Branch) came off the bench to lead the Indians with 12 points while R'Daztiny Harris (Hickory Flat) added 10 in the win.

The win keeps ICC unbeaten in conference play and in a three-way tie for first place with Jones College (8-2, 3-0 MACCC) and Southwest Mississippi (8-4, 3-0 MACCC).

The Lady Indians will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Hinds Community College (0-8, 0-3 MACCC) at 5:30 p.m. The game will be available on LetsGoICCTV.com/red.

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