CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College women's basketball team held off a late charge from Tougaloo College to clinch its second win of the season, 72-63. The decision moves MC to 2-1 on the season while TC falls to 0-2.
Five Lady Choctaws scored in double figures led by a season-high 17 points from
Kristen Sampson. The scoring effort marks the 21st contest in double-digits for the Jackson, Miss., native.
Chloe Roberts continued her scoring onslaught with 15 points in the affair. Roberts has scored in double-digits in all three of her outings with the Navy and Gold.
Allie Hill,
Mollie Blair and
Carla Clemmons each added 10 points. It marks the third time in double figures for Clemmons and the second this season and eighth of her career for Hill. Blair, who was one point shy of tying her career-high, recorded her first points of the 2015-16 and garnered her third career outing in double digits.
Toni Woods paced the squad with nine rebounds and now leads the team with 26 this season.
MC, which improved to 5-0 all-time against Tougaloo, led by 16 points after the first quarter and gained as much as a 19-point advantage, 40-21, with 3:43 remaining in the first half. The Bulldogs closed the half on a 7-2 run to trail 42-28. The Lady Choctaws shot 46.9 percent from the field during the first 20 minutes, including a 41.7 clip from behind the arc.
The Bulldogs kept applying pressure to start the second half going on an 11-4 to nip the lead to 46-39. The Navy and Gold pushed the lead back out to double figures – leading by as many as 14 with two minutes remaining in the affair. TC attempted a late rally cutting the lead to 70-63 before a pair of Roberts' free throws iced the contest.
"I thought we were in a good flow in the first half. We played defensive better. We made the extra pass to get better shots and really possessed the ball well," said head coach
Paul Allen Duke. "In the second half, especially in the third quarter, we played way too fast. We didn't use the shot clock and rushed a lot of shots. When we broke their pressure, we scored every time, but we didn't do it consistently enough. They just ran at us and pressed a lot in the second half. On the flip side, when we ran our 1-3-1 defense, I don't think they ever scored on it."
MC finished the night shooting 43.8 percent on the night and 31.6 from behind the 3-point line. The Bulldogs shot 37.5 percent from the field and 20 percent from behind the arc.
Arnissayur Robinson led Tougaloo with 22 points while Obadiyah Montgomery grabbed a team-best six rebounds.
Mississippi College returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 3 as it opens Gulf South Conference play at the University of West Alabama. Tip is slated for 6 p.m. at Pruitt Hall.
