For the first time this season, the Mississippi Delta Community College Lady Trojans had to come from behind.
With a rough-and-tumble matchup on the road on Monday, January 13, with Hinds Community College, MDCC (11-0, 1-0 in MACCC) made a dramatic steal with seconds left to take the 54-52 win in Utica. After one quarter, the Lady Trojans had a one-point lead and took that slim lead into the locker room at halftime. They were down by three after the third, but outscored the Lady Eagles 12-8 in the fourth to take the opening MACCC conference win. Hinds falls to 12-5 overall and 0-1 in MACCC action.
“Kierra (James) got the steal. She missed the layup. (Lauren) Nelson got it with one second left and laid it up,” Lady Trojans Head Coach Tangela Banks said. “It went so fast. I'm just praying she made the layup because she has been known to miss the layup.”
Janiah Caples led the Lady Trojans with 16 points while Lauren Nelson added 12 and seven rebounds. Lauren Lain added 11 points and Layla Carter had 10 points. The star of the moment was Kierra James, whose steal with less than three seconds left gave the Lady Trojans the win.
“We barely made it out of there,” Coach Banks said. “They were fired up. Then Lauren Nelson got in foul trouble. We played most of the third and most of the fourth without her.”
The Lady Eagles kept nipping and eventually overtook the Lady Trojans
“Once they got a lead on us, the girls kind of like dropped their heads a bit because they ain't never had to play from being down,” Coach Banks said.
With the close win to stay undefeated, Coach Banks noted, “We just got to learn how to play together. Most situations, they just play under control, so I had them go back and watch the game film so they could see all the stuff they did wrong.”
On Thursday the team hosted Itawamba (not covered due to press time) and then travels to Meridian Community College on Tuesday, January 21.
“Every game's going to be a battle. Itawamba, that's going to be a tough one. Meridian, they're pretty good, too. They're pretty solid. I'm saying every game's going to be a battle. Let's just say one game at a time,” she said.
Looking at the conference nationally, Pearl River is the lone ranked team, currently at #17.
To follow the Lady Trojans, check out www.mdcctrojans.com for news, schedule and stats.
