CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College women's basketball team fell 69-66 to Lane College to open the 2016-17 season. The win marked the first of the season for the Lady Dragons (1-3).
 
KEY STATS:
• Kelley Allen led Mississippi College with 19 points and 12 rebounds. The double-double comes in the MC debut for the Puckett, Miss., native.
• Cortrice Golden added 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
• Olivia Mabry missed tying her career-high with 11 points. The Meridian, Miss., product posted 12 points against the Ozarks on Dec. 20, 2014.
• Tashara Jones led Lane with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
• Lane out-rebounded the Lady Choctaws with 47-43 highlighted by 19 offensive boards. MC grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the setback.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Mississippi College trailed by as much as nine points, 50-41, in the second half, but grabbed its first advantage in the second stanza with 7:43 remaining to play on an Ashley Minor layup.
• A pair of Lanae' Bickham free throws and an Allen jumper helped extend the Lady Choctaws lead to five points, 58-53, with 6:17 left in the contest.
• Lane went on an 8-3 run to tie the contest at 61-all with 1:49 left on the clock. The Lady Dragons regained the lead with Jones' layup and extended its margin to 67-63 with eight seconds left on the front end of a ShaDa Nolen free throw.
• Minor knocked down a 3-pointer with four ticks remaining to pull MC within a point, 67-66.
• After Royal collected two more free throws to force the contest to 69-66, MC had a shot at sending the contest into overtime as Minor fired a 3-pointer from the corner as time expired, but the shot found itself wide of rim.
 
WHAT'S NEXT:
Mississippi College returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 22 as it hosts Henderson State. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.