By Brett Brown

For The Observer

The Northwest Mississippi Community College Lady Rangers mounted a great second-half rally, but came up short in their 85-82 loss to the Jones County Lady Bobcats in the semifinals of the MACJC State Tournament on Feb. 24 in Scooba.

Northwest, the MACJC North Division champion and north No. 1 seed in the tournament, dropped to 14-7 overall, while south No. 2 seed Jones County improved to 21-5.

The Lady Rangers will begin play in the Region XXIII Tournament on Monday, March 1, in Clinton.

Northwest trailed the Lady Bobcats, 43-34, at halftime and watched as Jones County extended its lead to 63-46 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the contest. The Lady Rangers rallied with a 13-4 run to trim their deficit to 79-74 with 1:13 left.

Northwest cut the score to 82-79 with 30 seconds left on the clock, but that's as close as the Lady Rangers could get as the Lady Bobcats eliminated Northwest from the state tournament for the second consecutive season.

Inconsistent shooting proved to be too much for the Lady Rangers to overcome. Northwest shot just 38.7 percent from the field by connecting on 29-of-75 attempts. The Lady Rangers made seven-of-21 three-pointers and were out-rebounded, 45-25.

Sophomore forward Hope Adams of Oxford led Northwest with 20 points, while sophomore guard Tamara Wadlington of Oxford scored 15.

Freshman guard Lanita Futrell of Coldwater chipped in with 10 points, while guards De'Kisha Fondon of Water Valley and Sabrina Townsend of Batesville added nine each.