Lady Wolves Sweep at Coca-Cola Classic

SUMMIT – The Co-Lin Lady Wolves played two games in the Coca-Cola Classic at Southwest Mississippi. The Lady Wolves beat the Lady Bengals of LSU-Eunice, 71-69, on Monday, November 18, and then beat the Lady Jaguars of Southern University-Shreveport, 62-57, on Tuesday, November 19.

Lady Wolves 71 Lady Bengals 69

The Lady Wolves used an early 6-2 scoring run to take a lead over the Lady Bengals with 7:36 left in the first quarter. The Lady Bengals responded with a 6-2 scoring run of their own to tie the game at 8-8 with 3:38 remaining. The Lady Bengals then closed out the quarter outscoring the Lady Wolves 8-5 to hold a 16-13 lead.

The Lady Wolves used a 9-3 scoring run to open the second quarter and take a 22-19 lead over the Lady Bengals with 7:04 left on the clock. The Lady Bengals responded with a 10-7 scoring run to tie the game at 29-29 with 3:05 left to play. The Lady Bengals then closed out the first half outscoring the Lady Wolves, 5-3, to hold a 34-32 lead at halftime.

The two teams matched scoring outputs with six points each as the Lady Bengals held a 40-38 lead with 6:58 left on the clock. The Lady Bengals then used a 9-5 scoring run to increase their lead over the Lady Wolves to 49-43 with 3:03 remaining. The Lady Bengals then closed out the quarter with a 7-6 scoring run to push their lead to 56-49.

The Lady Wolves opened the fourth quarter with a 6-3 scoring run to cut the lead down to 59-55 with 6:48 left to play. The Lady Wolves then used an 8-3 scoring run to retake the lead at 63-62 with 3:25 remaining in the game. The Lady Bengals then took the lead at 69-68 with 50 seconds left; however, the Lady Wolves closed out the game with the final three points while holding the Lady Bengals scoreless to secure the 71-69 victory.

"I am very proud of the resilience our team showed in this win," stated Co-Lin head coach Dr. Britta Stephens. "We played from behind most of the game and never stopped fighting. I was very pleased with how well we handled LSU Eunice's press. We have spent a lot of time working on not turning the ball over against pressure and we did an excellent job on that in this win."

The Lady Wolves had two players post double-double performances as Kamaiyah Pruitt (Pass Christian) led all scorers with 21 points along with ten rebounds while Jamyria Robinson (St. Martin) had ten points and a game-leading 13 rebounds. Angel Wilkinson (Brookhaven) had 16 points with five assists and three steals.

"Kam and Jay were outstanding for us today," added Stephens. "Their inside presence was a key factor to our success. Kylinn Bell and Maddi Mitchell did a fantastic job of running our team and handling the ball. As always, Cookie Wilkinson was fantastic offensively, but her defensive work was a huge spark for us in this win."

Eymani Key (Lafayette, LA) had nine points, Maddison Mitchell (Baton Rouge, LA) had seven points and a game-leading six assists while Kaylee Johnson (Booneville) had five points, Tyra Johnson (Morton) had two points, and Kylinn Bell (Choctaw) had one point to round out the scoring for the Lady Wolves.

Lady Wolves 62 Lady Jaguars 57

The Lady Wolves got off to a sluggish start in the second game of the week as the Lady Jaguars outscored them 14-10 and held the lead at that margin at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Wolves then rebounded in the second quarter and outscored the Lady Jaguars 15-14; however, it was the Lady Jaguars that held the lead at halftime as 28-25.

The third quarter belonged to the Lady Wolves as they flexed their muscles and outscored the Lady Jaguars 21-11 to hold a 46-39 lead heading to the final quarter of play. The fourth quarter saw the Lady Jaguars narrowly outscore the Lady Wolves, 18-16. However, the Lady Wolves did not relinquish their lead as they held of the Lady Jaguars to claim the 62-57 victory.

"This victory wasn't a pretty one, but it was a gutsy one," stated Stephens. "We continued to fight throughout the entire game despite poor shooting. I thought that we did a poor job of communicating, especially in transition, and that is an are we have to improve in."

Jay Robinson had a monster game for the Lady Wolves as she posted her second consecutive double-double performance with a team leading 15 points and 18 rebounds (14 coming as defensive rebounds) while Cookie Wilkinson had 14 points and led the team in assists and steals with five in each category.

"Jay Robinson was our spark today on defense and on the boards," added Stephens. "Maddi Mitchell did a fabulous job of leading our team in this win. Amari Barnes' length on defense was a huge key to our success."

Eymani Key, Kam Pruitt and Maddison Mitchell had eight points apiece while Tyra Johnson had four points, Amari Barnes (Tylertown) had three points, and Kaylee Johnson had two points to round out the scoring for the Lady Wolves.

Co-Lin is now 5-3 overall and will return to action on the road on Thursday, November 21 against South Arkansas. The action between the Lady Wolves and the Lady Stars tips off at 5:30 p.m. in El Dorado, Arkansas.