Fields’ 23 leads Bulldogs to R23 semifinals

PERKINSTON — About 90 seconds left, shot clock running down, there was only one person to put a Dantzler Arena exclamation mark on Mississippi Gulf Coast's playoff victory.

Simaru Fields surveyed the clock, stepped back even further on the half-court logo and launched. The 3-pointer swished and not long thereafter the Bulldogs celebrated a 65-51 NJCAA Region 23 Tournament quarterfinal win over Coahoma.

Gulf Coast will play No. 8 Jones in the semifinals on Saturday at A.E. Wood Coliseum on the Mississippi College campus. The championship will be Sunday at 3 p.m. Meridian and Pearl River play in the other semifinal immediately following the Bulldogs and Bobcats.

"It felt good," the freshman guard from Gulfport said. "We're just trying to make it to the championship and win it all."

She led Gulf Coast with 23 points and got 10 rebounds for a double-double. Running mate Ja'Sharreah Hunt (Fr., Roxie/Franklin County) had 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

Fields made all five of her first-quarter shots, including two from behind the arc as Gulf Coast (17-5) sprinted into the lead. The Bulldogs led 23-11 after 10 minutes and pushed the advantage as far as 18 before halftime.

"We wanted to jump out on them early," MGCCC coach Hope Adams said. "We knew if we could have one big quarter, we could keep the league. We wanted to do that in the third quarter, but I think we got a little lackadaisical until we picked it up at the end."

Coahoma (13-10) trimmed the lead to nine in the third quarter, but Amber Scott (So., Jackson/Hillcrest Christian) made a shot in the lane, Elsie Harris (So., Mobile, Ala./B.C. Rain) hit a layup and converted another into a three-point play for her first points of the night. She made the first two Gulf Coast buckets of the fourth quarter to help put the game away.

The Tigers missed all 15 of their 3-point attempts and shot 31.6 percent from the field. Gulf Coast shot nearly 47 percent in the first half.

"We've been grinding all week," Fields said. "They like to play at a slow pace, and we're pushing the ball in transition making them run after us. That was the game plan."

The Bulldogs had lost to Coahoma in each of the last two regular seasons, but they didn't concentrate on revenge. It was all about booking a bus ride to Clinton on Saturday.

"You just want to get there," Adams said. "Once we get there, it's let go and let God. We want to play our butts off up there."

NJCAA Region 23 Women's Basketball Tournament

First Round

Monday, Feb. 27

Game 1: No. 8 Mississippi Delta 55, No. 9 Baton Rouge 47

Game 2: No. 5 Coahoma 56, No. 12 East Mississippi 48

Game 3: No. 7 Southwest Mississippi 73, No. 10 Copiah-Lincoln 48

Game 4: No. 6 Holmes 61, No. 11 Itawamba 55

Quarterfinals

Wednesday, March 1

Game 5: Jones 90, Delta 50

Game 6: Gulf Coast 65, Coahoma 51

Game 7: Pearl River 60, Southwest 41

Game 8: Meridian 84, Holmes 52

Semifinals

Saturday, March 4

Mississippi College, Clinton

Game 9: Gulf Coast vs. Jones, noon

Game 10: Meridian vs. Pearl River, 2 p.m.

Sunday, March 5

Mississippi College, Clinton

Championship: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 3 p.m.

For more information on MGCCC's 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.