CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College women's basketball team opened the Greg Long era with a 72-48, Gulf South Conference victory over the University of Alabama in Huntsville on Friday, Dec. 11. The 24-point victory helped snapped a six-game slide in the series for the Lady Choctaws.
 
Four Lady Choctaws scored in double figures led by newcomer Jay Levy with a career-high 16 points. Freshman Rivers Futral added 15 points. Moriah Hurst posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds while Alana Canady poured in 10 points.
 
MC shot 48.9-percent from the field and was 83.3 percent from the free throw line. The squad also grabbed 43 rebounds.
 
UAH was led by Holly Harris with 16 points while Alexis Woods chimed in 12 points. Harris also paced the Blue and White on the glass with four rebounds. The Chargers managed just 29.8 percent from the floor and had a clip of 69.2 from the charity stripe.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Lady Choctaws held a seven-point advantage after the first 10 minutes of play and extended their lead to as many as 14 points, 24-10, in the second stanza.
- UAH chipped away at the deficit and pulled within 28-25 with just under two minutes left in the opening half behind a pair of free throws from Harris. The advantage held over the next 1:56 and the Lady Choctaws headed into the break holding a three-point lead.
- Kyiah Julian placed MC up 31-25 with a three-pointer less than 30 seconds into the second half, but UAH whittled away at the lead and knotted the contest at 31-all with 7:37 left in the third quarter. The Chargers grabbed their first and only lead of the game at the 6:21 mark of the quarter on a jumper from Woods.
- The visitors' lead held less than a minute as Canady tied the contest with a jumper at the 5:30 mark and Hurst placed the Choctaws back in front with a layup - off a feed from Darien Tubby – with 4:43 left in the third. MC never looked back the remainder of the way.
- Levy regained the Navy and Gold's double-digit lead with a trey at the 2:36 mark in the third and five-straight free throws from Futral sent MC into the final 10 minutes holding a 49-36 advantage.
- Mississippi College grabbed a 20-point lead with 6:49 left in the game behind a pair of Hurst free throws and reached its largest lead of the game, 27 points, on a layup by Canady off an assist from Tubby.
 
KEY STATS
- The 24-point win marked the second-largest margin of victory in the series for the Navy and Gold. MC topped the Chargers by 33 points in 1988.
- The double-double marked the fifth of Hurst's career.
- Levy's career-high surpassed her previous best set against Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 18, 2018.
- The Lady Choctaws outscored the Blue and White 44-23 in the second half.
- MC went on a 26-5 run during the second half en route to the victory. The spurt covered the span of 5:42 in the third quarter until the 6:49 mark in the fourth.
- All eight Lady Choctaws that played scored in the contest.
 
NEXT UP
- Mississippi College and UAH return to action on Saturday, Dec. 12 inside A.E. Wood Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m.