Bulldogs blast Holmes to advance

PERKINSTON — A Mississippi Gulf Coast women's basketball squad who had been in hibernation burst out of its slumber in the postseason Thursday.

The seventh-seeded Bulldogs dominated 10^th-seeded Holmes 86-48 at Dantzler Arena, inexorably pulling away the whole way. They'll travel to Itawamba to play in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament quarterfinals Monday.

"We had balanced scoring, and offensive we really moved the ball," Gulf Coast coach Hope Adams said. "There were many times when all five people touched the ball on a possession. We were locked in defensively tonight helping each other out, and we secured the boards."

Kristen McMillan (So., Hoover, Ala./Hoover) had a career-high 24 points to lead all scorers. Taelar Felton had 17 off the bench. Tamia Yates (So., Crystal Springs/Crystal Springs) had 15, and Hailey Brumfield (Fr., Amite, La./Amite) added 14. Dekyra Mitchell (Fr., Durant/Holmes County) was the fifth Bulldog in double digits with 14.

The Bulldogs (14-13), who had lost four of their last five in the regular season, outscored Holmes (13-17) by double digits in each of the first three quarters.

"That's the team we have to be in order to keep advancing," Adams said. "That's the team I know they can be. We're limited in numbers, but each and every player we've got dressed out can make an impact in the game."

Gulf Coast will play second-seed Itawamba on Monday at 5 p.m. The teams' regular-season matchup also took place in Fulton.

The Bulldogs led by five after 30 minutes, but ICC started the final quarter on a 15-0 run.

"We've got to be disciplined on defense and control the boards," Adams said. "We were up after the third quarter when we were up there and gave up some offensive rebounds. We made some young mistakes. Youth kicked in down the stretch. We're gonna get them prepared the next two days and try to come back with the win."

NJCAA Region 23 Women's Basketball Tournament

First Round

Higher seed hosts

Thursday, March 6

No. 5 Mississippi Delta 60, No. 12 East Mississippi 49

No. 6 Southwest Mississippi 68, No. 11 Northeast Mississippi 54

No. 7 Gulf Coast 86, No. 10 Holmes 48

No. 9 LSU Eunice 90, No. 8 Meridian 87

Quarterfinals

High seed hosts

Monday, March 10

No. 1 Pearl River vs. LSU Eunice, Poplarville, 5:30 p.m.

No. 2 Itawamba vs. Gulf Coast, Fulton, 5 p.m.

No. 3 Coahoma vs. Southwest Mississippi winner, Clarksdale, TBA

No. 4 Northeast Mississippi vs. Mississippi Delta, Booneville. 5:30 p.m.

Semifinals

Played at Poplarville

Friday, March 14

Semifinal 1, 5:30 p.m.

Semifinal 2, 7:30 p.m.

Championship

Played at Poplarville

Saturday, March 15

Championship, 6 p.m.

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.