CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College women's basketball team will play their first home game of 2015 when they host Shorter University on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in A.E. Wood Coliseum.

This will be just the second all-time meeting between the two schools with the Lady Choctaws winning the only other contest in the 1980-81 season, 76-58.

The Lady Choctaws are 5-3 in A.E. Wood Coliseum this season, while the Lady Hawks are just 1-2 in true road games.

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.

In their last outing, the Lady Choctaws trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half at North Alabama on Monday night. They would cut the lead down to just 68-67 with under four minutes to go, but the Lions clinched the 78-69 victory with a 10-2 run down the stretch. Junior Kristen Sampson was 7-of-10 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line, putting up 21 points.

The magic number for MC this season has been 60. They are 6-1 on the season when they allow fewer than 60 points to their opponent, while going 0-5 when opponents score 60 or more. They have also been good closers in 2014-15, going 4-0 when they have halftime leads and 5-0 with a lead in the final five minutes.

Sampson leads the squad with 12.8 points per game, scoring in double-figures in 8-of-12 contests, including the last three in which she is averaging 16.3 points per game. Junior Ashley Minor (11.9 ppg) is also scoring in double-figures, scoring at least 10 in five of the last six games with a season-high 20 against GSC-leading West Florida.

The Lady Choctaws saw a couple of milestones reached in the loss to UNA as senior Lauren Bethly tallied her 100th career assist and senior Jaianah Matthew has now scored 250 career points. Bethly has recorded at least three assists four times this season, while Matthew scored nine points in 12 minutes against the Lions.

The Lady Hawks had lost 4-of-5 games before an overtime win (78-72) over West Georgia on Monday night in Rome. They shot 53% from the floor and went 16-of-21 from the free throw line. Cynara Pitt came off the bench to lead the way with 19 points and six rebounds. Ieshia Alexander leads the way with 15.1 points per game on the year, while shooting 41% from the three-point line.