Sophomore Night ends with a bye clinched

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast clinched a bye in the NJCAA Region 23 Women's Basketball Tournament with a runaway victory on Sophomore Night over Copiah-Lincoln.

The Bulldogs used a 14-0 run the second quarter to take control and a 19-2 run in the fourth to put the game away.

TK Catchings (So., New Hebron/Simpson Academy), one of three sophomores honored after the game, finished with 22 points. Ja'Sharreah Hunt (Fr., Roxie/Franklin County) had a season-high 19, and Tytiana Buckley (Fr., Meridian/Meridian) finished with 10.

Fellow sophomores Elsie Harris (So., Mobile, Ala./B.C. Rain) ran the show at point guard and had seven, matching Amber Scott (So., Jackson/Hillcrest Christian), who shined on the glass and on defense.

"TK was a monster for us scoring inside, as well as controlling the boards," Gulf Coast coach Hope Adams said. "These sophomores are special. TK and Elsie have been with us for three years, so it's an emotional night. For them to go out with a bang their last regular-season game at home."

Gulf Coast, which is now 11-1 at Perk, clinched at least a fourth-place finish in the MACCC standings. The Bulldogs are 15-5 overall, 10-3 in conference. If Coahoma upset Pearl River in the regular-season finale and Gulf Coast beats East Mississippi, the Bulldogs could move up to third.

Gulf Coast travels to Scooba on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

Co-Lin is now 16-8, 6-7. The Bulldogs finished off a season sweep of the Wolves, having beaten them 61-54 in a non-conference game in November.

Gulf Coast will host a Region 23 quarterfinal on Wednesday, March 1. If the Bulldogs finish fourth, they'll play the winner of the No. 5 vs. No. 12 match on Monday.

"We talked a couple of weeks ago that we hadn't peaked, and I still feel like we haven't," Adams said. "But we can close out this week by playing our best basketball game heading into the playoffs."

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