CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College women's basketball team had its season-long win streak snapped on Thursday, Feb. 20 to the hands of in-state and Gulf South Conference foe Delta State in overtime, 80-76. MC moved to 11-13 on the season and 8-10 in the conference while the Lady Statesmen improved to 19-6 and 12-6 in the league.
 
Four Lady Choctaws scored in double figures led by Zariah Matthews with 22 points. Moriah Hurst added 16 points followed by Coco Hobson with 15. Shanell Kitchens rounded out the quartet with 12 points. Kaitlyn Thompson paced the Navy and Gold on the glass with eight rebounds.
 
MC shot 39.2 percent from the field, including a clip of 33.3 from behind the arc, but was just 11 of 20 from the free throw line.
 
DSU was led by Nia Johnson with 25 points. Zyaire Ewing added 19 points and grabbed a roster-best 20 rebounds. The Lady Statesmen shot 46.8 percent from the floor and was 16-for-26 from the charity stripe. The Green and White were 22.2 percent from the 3-point line.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- A nip and tuck first 20 minutes of play saw the Lady Choctaws hold a 29-26 at the intermission.
- DSU edged out the Navy and Gold 21-19 in the third quarter, but MC clung to a 48-47 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation.
- MC claimed its largest lead of game, 61-50, with 7:33 left to play in regulation, but the Lady Statesmen rallied to pull within a point with 27 seconds in regulation. Hobson knocked down one of two free throws to extend the lead to 66-64. DSU knotted the contest at 66-all behind a pair of Johnson free throws.
- The Lady Choctaws put up a shot at the buzzer off the hands of Kitchens, but the officials waived off the basket sending the contest to the extra session.
- MC grabbed as much as a 5-point lead in the extra five minutes, but DSU grabbed a 73-32 advantage with 2:34 left to play. The Lady Statesmen never relinquished the advantage the remainder of the way as clutch free throw shooting iced the contest.
 
KEY STATS
- The 20-plus point effort for Matthews marked her seventh of the season – the most on the team and by any Lady Choctaw since the program returned to Division II.
- Matthews knocked down a career-high, five 3-pointers on her final game at A.E. Wood Coliseum.
- It's the third time this season the Lady Choctaws have gone to overtime and the first since a 69-66 win over nationally ranked Union on Jan. 18.
- The win is the seventh straight by Delta State in the series.
 
NEXT UP
  - Mississippi College returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 22 as it travels to Jackson, Tenn., to face Union University. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
 
 
 
Mississippi College is a private Christian university located in Clinton, Mississippi with an enrollment of over 5,000 students. MC recently finished their transition process back to NCAA Division II and the Gulf South Conference and began competing for conference and national championships in the 2016-17 academic year.
 
The athletic department sponsors 17 intercollegiate athletic programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Football, Golf, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field, Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field and Volleyball.
 
For more information on Mississippi College athletics, please contact David Nichols at 601-925-3234 or nichols@mc.edu.
 
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