It was a defensive battle on Wednesday night, but the Lady Warriors of East Central Community College defeated the Meridian Lady Eagles in the second round of the NJCAA Region XXIII Tournament, 52-43. The Lady Warriors entered the game as the No. 13 seed, while the Lady Eagles were the No. 4 seed having beat ECCC twice during the regular season. The Lady Warriors' seeding allowed them to get a bye to the second round. The win means the women advance to the third round where they will take on the LSU Eunice Lady Bengals, the No. 5 seed, on Monday, April 5 at 6 p.m. in Eunice, La.
Scoring was sparse throughout the game as it was tied at 10-apiece after the first quarter of play. The physical, lockdown defense continued into the second quarter as each squad mustered just four points through the first half of the second. The Lady Warriors closed out the half on a little scoring run and pulled away to a five-point, 23-18, lead at the break.
The low-scoring bout continued after the teams exited the locker room with the Lady Warriors netting nine points in the third to the Lady Eagles' seven. Going into the final frame, ECCC was on top by seven, 32-25.
In the fourth, both the crowd at Graham Gymnasium and Meridian's offense got involved. The Lady Eagles went on a brief run and cut into the lead, eventually taking a one-point advantage with just over three minutes left in the contest. The Lady Warriors responded with some impressive play under the basket from sophomores Asia Madison (Hazlehurst) and Mirial Cannon (Madison) as well as some solid trips to the free throw line from Wynter Taylor (Dallas, Texas). The stellar play and leadership from the sophomores hoisted the Lady Warriors back on top by three, 40-37, with less than three minutes to play. The Lady Eagles made several last-ditch efforts offensively, but solid on-ball pressure and some key rebounds allowed the Lady Warriors to slowly stretch the lead over the final minutes to lock in the playoff win, 52-43.
No. 5 LSU Eunice enters next week's contest with a 17-3 overall record, while the No. 13 Lady Warriors improved to 5-9 on the year with last night's victory. However, with playoff basketball in full swing, and three wins straight for the Lady Warriors, ECCC looks to continue to shake up the NJCAA Region XXIII bracket.