Bulldogs narrowly miss upset of No. 3 Jones

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast showed it belonged on the court with a national power, leading a wild game in the final minute before falling 74-70 to Jones.

Beverly Tillman (So., Laurel/Laurel) led Gulf Coast with 22 points.

"Beverly played a great game," Gulf Coast coach Hope Adams said. "She really rose up to the competition, but we're not playing our best ball early. I told them we'll see that team again late (in the season), and we just have to capitalize. We just played within four with the No. 3 team in the nation."

Gulf Coast led by five with 2:41 left in the third quarter before a 9-1 Jones run gave the Bobcats (5-0) a 58-55 lead headed to the fourth.

They scored the first six points of the final stanza to push the lead to nine, but the Bulldogs clawed back.

Sadie Williams (So., Gonzales, La./West Monroe) started a 14-4 run with a put-back with 7:04 to play. She finished the run with a free throw that tied it up at 68 with 89 seconds to play.

Aniya Saddler (So., Columbus/Columbus) and Tillman made single free throws for a two-point lead with 34.6 seconds left.

Jones got a 3-pointer with 21.1 left to retake the lead and scored the next three points to put the game away.

"Those offensive rebounds we gave up in the third quarter really gave them the momentum," Adams said. "We were up five and we let them go on a run and we had to fight our way back."

The Bulldogs got downhill early and often, shooting 42 free throws. They made 14 more free throws than Jones attempted. The Bobcats were 6-of-11.

"We wanted to slow them down," Adams said. "We wanted to keep them from getting transition buckets. They're a team full of athletes. I respect their program, but I felt like we did a great job doing that. We just have to make defensive plays at the end of the game."

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