Pearl River women earn lopsided win against Columbia State
Dylan Dunaway - PRCC Sports Information Director
POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Despite having a week-long layoff, the Pearl River women’s basketball team didn’t miss a beat. The Wildcats returned to action with an incredible 67-point, 95-28 victory over Columbia State Monday night inside Marvin R. White Coliseum.
“I thought we had active hands early on and really allowed our defense to set the tone,” head coach Scotty Fletcher said. “We talked about power and belief yesterday in practice. I was really proud to see our girls take the message and our drills and apply them to the game today. It was a really solid performance for us.”
FIRST HALF
After falling behind to open the game, Pearl River (5-0 overall) fought back to take the lead with 7:25 remaining in the first quarter. Alexis Arrington (Byram; Terry) ran inside to set a screen on the Columbia State (0-11) center, opening a lane in the process. Ty’Mesha Reed (Meridian) lobbed a pass into the paint for the sprinting Marcavia Shavers (Biloxi) who caught the ball and laid it up and in for a 6-4 advantage.
The Wildcats built out an 11-4 soon after. Tierra Simon (Houston, Texas.; Heights) had the ball inside the paint before looking outside and passing to Reed. The sophomore guard took two steps inside and knocked down a jumper.
PRCC kept its foot on the gas pedal as the quarter went along, going ahead 18-8. Shavers found Hama’ya Fielder (Philadelphia; Neshoba Central) all alone beyond the arc and passed off to the freshman guard. Fielder promptly caught the pass and hit nothing-but-net on her 3-point attempt.
The Wildcats picked up their last basket of the quarter on another good play by Fielder. She jumped in front of a Charger pass for the steal and took the ball all the way down the court for an easy layup. The basket extended the PRCC lead to 22-8.
Pearl River continued to build on its lead to open the second quarter, going on a 13-0 run to start the period. The second quarter run began with a 2-for-2 trip to the free-throw line for Simon and was followed up by a mid-range jumper from Halle Traylor (Tupelo). The baskets made the score 26-8.
Pearl River capped off the big run with another 3-pointer by Fielder. The shot made the score 35-8.
J’Mani Ingram (North Augusta, S.C.) and Khyla Ragins (Booneville; Harrison Central) connected near the end of the half to extend the Pearl River lead to 42-12. Ragins dribbled the ball down the court before passing just beyond the reach of the Charger defender to Ingram who picked up an easy layup.
Alexis Arrington (Byram; Terry) drives inside for an easy layup in Pearl River's massive 95-28 victory over Columbia State. (Photo by Trenton Gascho)
SECOND HALF
CSCC picked up the first basket of the second half, but the Wildcats were quick to respond using back-to-back connections from Reed and Fielder to extend the lead to 46-14. On both plays, Reed moved the ball down the right side of the court before passing to Fielder for easy layups.
The Chargers had a perfect trip to the free-throw line to make the score 48-16, but the Wildcats followed it up with an 11-0 run. The run, which extended the PRCC lead to 57-16, was highlighted by a solid play from Ingram. The Winthrop transfer fought for an offensive rebound, dribbled inside and got a layup to fall through heavy contact. The run was capped off by a corner 3-pointer from Fielder who was fed a pass from Ragins.
The Wildcats went ahead 62-18 soon after as Zi’A Shields’ (Lawrence; Newton) shot from deep was true. Ragins earned the assist on the basket.
PRCC’s lead swelled to 67-22 after consecutive baskets from Simon. On the first basket, Simon caught a pass just in front of the free-throw line, turned and got a jumper to fall. She followed it up with an easy layup.
The Wildcats continued to dominate throughout the fourth quarter, outscoring the Chargers by a whopping 26-2 margin.
Brandy Scott (Hammond, La.) picked up her second basket of the game by plucking away a pass and rushing down the court for a layup. The basket made the score 76-26.
Scott added to the lead midway through the quarter as the sophomore drained a corner 3-pointer for an 84-26 advantage.
PRCC continued to add in basket-after-basket throughout the final minutes of the game to secure a massive 95-28 victory.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Fielder led Pearl River in points with 17. She also had five rebounds and three steals.
“Hama’ya is as good as an out-of-state player," Fletcher said. "It was special to be able to sign a player like her with her championship pedigree. She brings so much value to our team.”
Arrington was second on the team in scoring with 13 points. She also collected five assists, four rebounds and three steals.
“She’s an all-around player. She’s very versatile," Fletcher said. "I challenged her at the half and to her credit, she stepped up. From August to now, there is no player in our program who has made the growth that she has. That’s the kind of performance we need from her. I’m very, very proud of her.”
Reed and Simon rounded out those in double figures as they each scored 12 points.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats hit the road Thursday for a game against Holmes. Tipoff in Goodman is set for 5:30 p.m. The game will be livestreamed at HolmesCCMedia.com.
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