By Brett Brown

For The Observer

The Northwest Mississippi Community College Lady Rangers opened the MACJC State Tournament by defeating the East Central Lady Warriors, 80-74, on Feb. 23 in Scooba. The tournament is being hosted by East Mississippi Community College.

The MACJC north division champion Lady Rangers, the No. 1 seed in the event, improved to 14-6 overall. South No. 4 seed East Central dropped to 13-11.

Northwest advances to the semi-finals of the tournament and will face south No. 2 seed Jones County on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at noon. The winner of that contest will play for the state championship on Thursday, Feb. 25, at 5:30 p.m.

Jones County qualified for the semi-finals after overcoming a seven-point deficit with 30 seconds remaining in regulation to eliminate Mississippi Delta, 89-78, in overtime.

Sophomore forward Hope Adams of Oxford collected her sixth double-double of the season in the Lady Rangers' victory against East Central with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard De'Kisha Fondon of Water Valley also had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds for Northwest, while guards Sabrina Townsend of Batesville and Sandrick Bowen of Holly Springs added 10 points each.

Lady Ranger freshman guard Lanita Futrell of Coldwater also enjoyed a solid outing with nine points, seven assists and seven steals.

Northwest led, 37-36, at halftime before opening the second period with a 23-9 run to claim a 60-45 advantage with just over nine minutes remaining in the contest.

East Central cut the score to 73-65 with 2:27 left, but the Lady Warriors couldn't overcome the 29 turnovers they committed in the game.

The Lady Rangers made 32-of-80 attempts from the field in the contest, including seven of 31 three-pointers. Northwest also racked up 19 steals and out-rebounded East Central 47-39.