CARROLLTON, Ga. --- The Mississippi College women's basketball team will open the second half of the Gulf South Conference schedule by traveling to face the University of West Georgia on Thursday night at 4:30 p.m. (Central) in The Coliseum.
This will be the 10th all-time meeting between the two schools with the Wolves holding a 7-2 edge in the series. The Lady Choctaws are 0-4 all-time against UWG in Carrollton and last picked up a win over the Wolves in 1992-93 (61-59). The two teams met earlier this season on December 6th and the Wolves jumped out to a 38-15 halftime lead and improved to 7-1 on the season. The Lady Choctaws went 10-of-19 (53%) from the field in the second half as
Ashley Minor (Natchez, Miss.) led the team with nine points.
Head coach
Paul Allen Duke earned his 336th win on Saturday, December 13th against Christian Brothers, marking the 700th win in program history, dating back to 1970. Duke is the winningest coach in school history and has the highest winning percentage (.681). He is slated to coach his 500th career game this season with the game against West Alabama on January 24th projected to be the milestone.
The Lady Choctaws are coming off a rivalry win over Delta State (74-69) on Saturday, shooting 13-of-16 (81%) from the field in the second half. In the game, MC shot 64% from the floor, which is the best performance by a Lady Choctaw team since February 17, 2009 in a victory over Louisiana College.
Jaianah Matthew (Texarkana, Texas) came off the bench and went 3-of-4 from the 3-point line to tie Minor with a team-high 13 points.
The MC defense is holding their opponents to a .371 field goal percentage, which ranks second in the GSC behind West Florida. Saturday's victory is the first for the Lady Choctaws when allowing more than 60 points in a game this season. They have also closed games well, going 7-0 on the year when they hold a lead with five minutes remaining.
Kristen Sampson (Jackson, Miss.) leads the team in scoring at 12.0 points per game, despite being held to fewer than 10 points in each of the last two games. Minor is also averaging in double-figures with 11.9 points per game.
AnnMarie Harris (Miami, Fla.) leads the team with 6.6 rebounds per game and scored a season-high 14 points on Monday against Lee University.
The Wolves are led by 5th-year head coach Scott Groninger, who led the team to a 7-1 start to the season, including the victory over MC. Since then, they lost five straight games, but they have bounced back with four straight victories coming into Thursday's contest.
The Wolves are led by Taylor Beverly, who is one of two players to average a double-double with 16.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. She scored 11 points with 16 rebounds and five steals in the victory earlier this season over MC. Seandre Lee also scores in double-figures with 13.8 points per game and is shooting 52% from the field.
