Lady Wildcats grind out win against Meridian

MERIDIAN, Miss.— It did not come easy but the Pearl River Lady Wildcats pulled out their 12th victory of the season and their fifth in a row Monday by night defeating Meridian 47-40

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PRCC coach Scotty Fletcher was pleased to see his squad power through a tough game.

"Just a very, very gutsy win by our girls. You've gotta find ways to win and this is a tough environment to play in and their defense obviously caused us some problems," Fletcher said. "At halftime the girls accepted the challenge."

RECAP

The Lady Wildcats (12-4) had to fight for every point against the Lady Eagles (9-7) but were able to match Meridian's defense with some potent defense of their own.

The Lady Wildcats' offense was stunted in the first quarter only scoring six points and headed into the second quarter trailing 7-6.

The second quarter did not see much change in the pace of play as both teams struggled to get any consistency on the offensive side and headed into the break tied 17-17.

Both offenses finally started to flex their muscles in the third quarter.

A pair of long 3-point buckets highlighted a quarter that saw PRCC score 16 points and take a 33-28 lead.

The Lady Wildcats imposed their will in the final frame of the game, finishing off Meridian 47-40.

LEADING THE WAY

Elexis Peyton (Jackson; Provine) led the way for the Lady Wildcats with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Elexis Peyton scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds Monday night in Pearl River's 47-40 win at Meridian Community College. (KRISTI HARRIS/PRCC ATHLETICS)

"I cannot brag on Elexis Peyton enough," Fletcher said. "She's a winner and I think she's got a sense of urgency right now. She knows that her clock is winding down at Pearl River."

Dwayna Parker (Gulfport) was not far behind Peyton scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds.

Mychala "Pooh" Linzy (Clinton) did not make a field goal tonight but she did score six points — all from made free throws. The freshman guard also hauled in six rebounds and took two charges back to back at a critical point in the game.

"The duo we have with Alanna (Smith) and Pooh playing together, that is a heck of a matchup because they're both two very good ball handlers," Fletcher said.

"I'm just so proud of the level of growth these ladies have shown."

Up next for the Lady Wildcats is another road trip to take on Co-Lin, Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WRJW 1320 AM, wrjwradio.com, and the WRJW app.

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