ROME, Ga. --- The Mississippi College women's basketball team will remain on the road to face Shorter University on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm (Central) at the Winthrop-King Centre.
This will be just the 3rd all-time meeting between the two schools with MC grabbing wins in both contests. The first came back in the 1980-81 season with a 76-58 win, while the second meeting took place in Clinton on January 10th with MC coming away with a 61-54 win. The Lady Choctaws had nine different players score and erased an 11-point second half lead to come back for the win.
Kristen Sampson led MC with 13 points, while
Ashley Minor had 11. Ieshia Alexander led all scorers with 18 for Shorter.
Head coach
Paul Allen Duke coached his 500th career game on Saturday, January 24th at West Alabama. He began his 20-year career at MC in the 1995-96 season and is the all-time leader in school history in wins (339) and winning percentage (.669). Duke earned his 300th career victory over January 14th, 2012 against East Texas Baptist.
The Lady Choctaws opened their three-game road swing to close the season with a 74-53 loss at Lee University on Thursday night. The Lady Flames outrebounded MC, 44-23, and the Lady Choctaws only shot 34% (17-of-50) from the field on the day. Minor went 9-of-10 from the free throw line and scored a team-high 18 points with six steals.
AnnMarie Harris scored 11 points with a team-high six rebounds. Emileigh Swafford scoreed 24 points for Lee, while Shelby Brown had 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Sampson (12.3 ppg) is the team's leading scorer and ranks second on the team with 37 assists on the year. Minor (11.7 ppg) is also averaging in double-figures and has a team-high 63 steals. The 63 swipes is the most in a single season for the Lady Choctaws since Moe Winters had 63 back in the 2004-05 season. Sandy Rieger holds the single-season record at MC with 108 in the 1980-81 season.
Sophomore
Zaneta Kubicka had two more blocked shots on Thursday night against Lee, giving her 27 this season, which ranks in a tie for 9th all-time in a single season. Jackie Jackson holds the school record with 68 blocked shots in the 1993-94 season.
The Flames, led by 25th-year head coach Vic Mitchell, are still vying for a spot in the Gulf South Conference Tournament in their first year of eligibility. They are currently tied for 8th with West Alabama at 7-13 in the league with the top eight teams moving on to the postseason. They close the season at home against MC and on the road at Lee, while UWA plays at West Florida and West Georgia to finish.
Ieshia Alexander is the only Lady Hawk averaging in double-figures with 15.1 points per game. She is shooting 73% (91-of-125) from the free throw line and leads the team with 71 assists and 47 steals. Cynara Pitt averages 8.2 pionts and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 50% from the field. Alexander led the team with 14 points in a 47-42 loss against Delta State on Thursday night.
