CLEVELAND, Miss. --- The Mississippi College women's basketball team rallied to knock off in-state and Gulf South Conference foe, Delta State University, on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 65-52 in front of a crowd of 600-plus in Walter Sillers Coliseum. The win improved MC to 12-13 on the season and 11-11 in conference play.
 
A trio of Choctaws scored in double figures led by Karly Ivy with 19 points. Kyiah Julian added 18 points with 10 coming Nia Coleman. It marks the 15th game in double digits for Ivy and her sixth straight while Julian has 11 game in double figures and her career 42nd. Coleman recorded her fourth contest with 10-plus points.
 
MC shot 42.0 percent from the field and nearly equaled that mark from behind the arc with a 41.7 clip. The Blue and Gold were also 18-for-25 from the charity stripe. Sky Vaughn and Keller Bigham tied for tops on the team with five rebounds apiece as the squad totaled 21 rebounds.
 
MC trailed 33-27 with a quarter and a half left in regulation when the contest was halted on Jan. 8, but the Choctaws wasted no time rattling their neighbors to the northwest as they closed the final five minutes of the third quarter on a 12-4 run to take a 39-36 lead into the final 10 minutes of action. Ivy spearheaded the third as she totaled nine of 19 points during the frame.
 
The Blue and Gold didn't rest on its laurels as it outscored DSU 26-16 in the final stanza. MC spread the scoring out during the final frame as five different players recorded four points or more during the period. It also limited the Green and White's attempt at a rally. The Choctaws forced Delta into four turnovers and converted each into points and kept them off the free-throw line, committing just two fouls in the final 10 minutes.
 
MC reached its first double-digit lead nearly midway through the final quarter as Vaughn converted one of the Lady Statemen miscues into two points in the paint. DSU drew the deficit to within single digits, but Choctaw senior, Julian, knocked down six consecutive free throws during the final minute to snap the three-game slide in the series, but also hand the program its first win in Cleveland since Dec. 19, 2020.
 
DSU, which led 28-19 at the half, posted a 40.4 percentage from the floor, but was held in check from the 3-point line as it connected on 27.8 percent of its shots. The Green and White also recorded a paltry 5-for-12 from the free-throw line. Three Lady Statesmen tied for tops on the team in scoring with nine points.

The Choctaws outscored Delta State 46-24 in the second half.
 
Mississippi College returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 24 as it hosts Delta State in the final regular-season contest of 2024. The Senior Day tip-off is at 2 p.m., with the two Choctaw seniors honored following the game.
 
 
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