CLEVELAND, Miss. --- For the first time since 1994, the Mississippi College women's basketball team defeated Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss., as the Lady Choctaws claimed a 63-62 victory inside Walter Sillers Coliseum on Friday, Dec. 18. MC improved to 2-1 on the season while Delta State fell to 0-3.
 
The win snapped a seven-game slide in the series with the Lady Statesmen and marked the first "W" since Dec. 1, 2016.
 
Mikeba Jones led a trio of Lady Choctaws in scoring with 17 points. NeNe Williams and Jay Levy added 10 each. The scoring total marked a career-high for Williams in her third game with the program. Moriah Hurst paced the Navy and Gold on the glass with 11 rebounds.
 
MC shot 43 percent from the field and matched that mark from behind the arc as it went 3-for-7. The Lady Choctaws shot 70 percent from the free throw line and totaled 38 rebounds.
 
Shaniyah Buford led all scorers with 23 points for DSU. Zyaire Ewing added a double-double for the Green and White with 11 points and a team-best 12 boards.
 
The Lady Statesmen shot 39 percent from the floor and was 3 of 14 from the 3-point line for 21 percent. DSU shot 82 percent from the charity stripe and grabbed 34 boards.

---

HOW IT HAPPENED
- After DSU grabbed the first points of the game, the Lady Choctaws garnered their first lead behind a free throw from Alana Canady. MC held the lead for much of the opening 10 minutes as it held as much as a 12-9 lead in the quarter. However, the Lady Statesmen closed out the first 10 minutes on a 7-2 run to hold a 16-14 advantage at the end of the first.
- DSU extended its lead to as much as five points early in the second quarter. MC chipped away at tied at the contest at 26-all on an old-fashion, 3-point play from Levy. The Green and White responded as it grabbed its second, five-point lead of the quarter with 1:42 left before the half, but the Lady Choctaws closed out the final minute with six consecutive points to send the two squads into the locker room knotted at 31-all.
- A back-and-forth contest through much of the third quarter, including five ties, saw MC hold a 48-46 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of action. MC grabbed a 42-40 advantage midway through the period on a layup from Kyiah Julian. The Lady Choctaws expanded the margin to four points on two different occasions before DSU tied the contest at 46-all with two minutes left in the quarter, but a Jones' layup sent the Navy and Gold up heading into the final quarter.
- The two Magnolia State programs exchanged leads through much of the final quarter. Delta State grabbed ahold of the contest with just over four minutes to play on a T'kyra Hicks' jumper. The lead moved to four following a Buford jumper. MC closed out the contest with the final five points of the contest as the Lady Choctaws went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch. The Navy and Gold grabbed its final lead on a pair of free throws from Jones. The Lady Statesmen had the last look of the game with a jumper with three ticks left, but Rivers Futral secured the defensive rebound as time expired.

---

KEY STATS/NOTES
- The victory marked just the third in the series at Sillers for the Lady Choctaws.
- Williams' career-high surpassed her previous total of six points vs. UAH on Dec. 12.
- Hurst has led Mississippi College in rebounding in all three games this season.
- Levy has scored in double figures in each of her games this season.
- Mikeba Jones made her 2020-21 season debut.

---

NEXT UP
- Mississippi College and Delta State meet again on Saturday, Dec. 19 at Walter Sillers Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m.