Co-Lin women nail 14 treys in 97-67 win
Published 6:00 am Friday, February 2, 2001
WESSON – The Co-Lin Lady Wolves set a school-record byconnecting on 14 three-point baskets Thursday night. The LadyWolves put the ream, steam and dry clean on the East Central LadyWarriors to the tune of 97-67 at Mullen Gymnasium.
Sophomore guard Rusti Smith led the charge hitting 5-for-7 frombehind the 3-point arc, finishing with a game-high 17 points.
Co-Lin raised their record to 19-0 and 8-0 in the SouthDivision. East Central dropped to 15-4 and 6-2 in the South. BothLady Warriors’ division losses came at the hands of the LadyWolves.
Co-Lin is ranked No. 6 in the latest NJCAA poll while EastCentral came in a No. 19th.
“We shot the ball extremely well tonight,” said Lady Wolves headcoach Gwyn Young.
The Lady Wolves shot 30-for-57 from the field for 53 percent,including 14-for-21 from beyond the 3 -point line. East Centralshot a dismal 23-for-57 from the field for 40 percent.
“They (Lady Warriors) did not seem like themselves tonight,”added Young. “Our defense played very well.”
Smith, a 5-foot-5 guard from Brookhaven (West Lincoln), andDenise Catchings opened the game with back-to-back treys for anearly 6-0 lead. After a timeout by East Central with 2:05 into thegame, the Lady Wolves kept pulling away from the Lady Warriors.
The Lady Warriors, coached by Sammy Pace, pulled within 2points, 17-15, on a pair of free throws by Lashonda Ford with 8:17remaining in the opening half. That would be as close as EastCentral would get the remainder of the night.
Smith and Catchings would dial long distance several times inthe final 8 minutes of the first half. Smith’s trey at the buzzergave the Lady Wolves a 45-29 lead at halftime as Young called forone shot with under 20 seconds left on the clock.
In the first half, it was outside shooting for Co-Lin. Thesecond half saw the Lady Wolves go to the paint for scoring.Christy Brown, a 5-foot-9 1/2 forward from Zachary, La., scored 6consecutive points during one stretch to give Co-Lin a 67-45lead.
The Lady Wolves went 16-for-18 from the charity stripe in thesecond half. Co-Lin was taking the ball to the basket and scoringon baskets or taking fouls.
East Central could not mount any type of offense and theirdefense did nothing to stop the Co-Lin offensive arsenal.
“They just did not seem like themselves tonight,” said Young.”They did not have a good game. It’s not like them.”
Following Smith in double figures for the Lady Wolves wereTiffany Dales with 16 points, Mindy Livaudais with 14 and MelanieFairchild with 13.
Sophia Reed led East Central with 14 points.