CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College women's basketball team recorded a program first as it topped Lee University, 70-64, for the first time ever on Tuesday, Jan. 2. MC improved to 5-8 and 4-6 in the Gulf South Conference. The Flames fall to 9-3 and suffered their first loss on the season in eight outings.

"That was probably the most significant win as a coach that I've had and it has everything to do with the young women on this team," said head Greg Long. "This team played their hearts out tonight and played for each other. To beat a team like Lee you have to have some great performances and we had that tonight."
 
It is the second consecutive outing with 70 points, which matched a season high.
 
A quartet of Choctaws scored in double figures paced by Amelia Bell with 17 points. The O'Fallon, Ill., native was two points shy of her career high. It is her 17th time in double figures during her career and third time on the campaign. She led the team with seven rebounds as well.
 
Karly Ivy and Kyiah Julian added 15 points each while Nia Coleman added a season-high 12 points to round out the double-digit scoring producers. Coleman's previous best was five points against Shorter on Dec. 31.
 
It marked the first time this season the Choctaws have placed four players in double figures scoring.

"Amelia was as solid as I've ever seen her. She did so many other things that won't show up on the stat line to go along with her 17 points. We had three other players in double figures to go with her but Sky Vaughn is the glue of this team. She is so steady. She needs to get the credit for all the intangible things she is doing. I am so proud of the player she has become," Long said.

Vaughn finished with seven points, going nearly perfect from the free-throw line and added six rebounds alongside Julian and Coleman.
 
MC shot 44.7 percent from the field, including a 35.7 clip from behind the arc, and was 23-for-31 from the free-throw line for 74.2 percent. They also grabbed 39 rebounds.
 
In a game that saw four lead changes – all in the first quarter – and three ties, the Choctaw rallied from an early deficit to knot the contest at 15-all with seven minutes left until the intermission on an Ivy 3-pointer. It was the last time the team trailed or stood deadlocked the rest of the way. The Blue and Gold closed out the quarter on a 14-4 run to take a 29-19 lead in at the half.    
 
MC reached as much as a 12-point advantage during the third period, but saw the Flames whittle at the deficit and trail by seven points heading into the final period. The Choctaws resumed their double-digit advantage at the 7:34 mark of the fourth and grabbed its largest lead of the game with just under five minutes to play at 16 points, on a Julian jumper.
 
The Blue and Gold held the double-figure margin until 3:22 left in the game, when Haylee Johnson scored on a MC miscue. The bucket sparked a 4-0 scoring spurt that nipped the deficit to 58-54 with 2:42 left in the game, but it was the closest the visitors from the Volunteer State got the remainder of the way.    
 
Mallory Hampton led Lee with 29 points while Addison Smith pulled down seven rebounds. LU shot 32.2 percent from the floor and was 20-for-25 from the charity stripe. The Red and White was held to 6-of-27 from the 3-point line, which is the second lowest clip in conference play this season. It totaled 27 boards.
 
Mississippi College returns to action on Monday, Jan. 8 as it travels to in-state foe and conference foe, Delta State University. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
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