BULLDOGS WIN REGION 23 TITLE

PERKINSTON — Watch out, Casper, Wyoming. Here come the Bulldogs.

Mississippi Gulf Coast is headed to the NJCAA Women's Basketball Championship for the first time since 1977, winning the Region 23 championship with a 62-50 win over Southwest Mississippi.

"It means everything," Gulf Coast coach Hope Adams said. "I'm getting choked up thinking about it because they have put in so much. … To see them get rewarded for it, it means a lot."

Top-seeded Gulf Coast shared the MACCC championship with Pearl River, but No. 3 seed Southwest knocked out No. 11 Pearl River, the two-seed, in the semifinals Thursday. It was a 47-45 slobber-knocker, and Gulf Coast was determined to push the pace against the Bears.

"I never won a championship, so for the first time, it's different," sophomore guard Ja'Sharreah Hunt said. "I feel good about it."

The national tournament starts March 26 at the Ford Wyoming Center. It's a 24-team field, with the Bulldogs wrapping up one of 16 automatic bids. The field and seedings will be announced Sunday at 7 p.m. on the NJCAA Network.

The Bulldogs were up 20-9 after the first quarter and outscored the Bears 22-10 in the third to put it away.

Hunt (So., Roxie/Franklin County) led the way for the Bulldogs. She scored 23 points, relying on drives and her mid-range game.

"She was great defensively," Adams said. "Hunt showed up and made big shots. She had a mega-game."

Tytiana Buckley (So., Meridian/Meridian) had 13 points, and Je'Mya Evans (So., Gulfport/Harrison Central) added 12.

The game, however, was won on the other end of the court. Gulf Coast stifled the Southwest defense over and over again, anticipating the array of curls and hand-offs, beating the Bears to where they wanted to get to.

"Overall, I'm just proud of the team," Adams said. "They played team defense. We went over the game plan this morning at Clinton about how we wanted to guard them, and I think our post players did a great job defending the bigs. Everybody stepped up and did their job."

Hunt, Buckley, Evans and Simaru Fields (So., Pass Christian/Gulfport), have now won 39 games in their two years at Perk. They get to take a big road trip to try to get to the big four-oh.

The only person in the Bulldogs travel party who has been to Wyoming is team bus driver is Russell Ryals.

"I'm going now!" said Hunt.

NJCAA Region 23 Women's Basketball Tournament

First Round

Saturday, March 9

Higher seed hosts

No. 8 East Central 85, No. 9 Southern-Shreveport 71

No. 5 Itawamba 54, No. 12 Jones 36

No. 7 Northeast Mississippi 90, No. 10 Mississippi Delta 60

No. 11 Meridian 58, No. 6 Northwest Mississippi 55

Quarterfinals

Monday, March 11

Higher seed hosts

No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast 57, No. 8 East Central 37

No. 5 Itawamba 51, No. 4 Coahoma 47

Northeast at No. 2 Pearl River 80, No. 7 Northeast 47

No. 3 Southwest Mississippi 72, No. 11 Meridian 53

Semifinals

Thursday, March 14

Kroger Gymnasium, Tougaloo College

Jackson, Miss.

Gulf Coast 71, Itawamba 67 (OT)

Southwest 47, Pearl River 45

Finals

Friday, March 15

Kroger Gymnasium, Tougaloo College

Jackson, Miss.

Gulf Coast 62, Southwest 50

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