POPLARVILLE – The nationally ranked No. 4 Copiah-LincolnCommunity College Lady Wolves held off a tough Pearl River LadyWildcat team Thursday night for a 71-60 win in South Divisionaction.

In the men’s game, the Wildcats proved to be too much as theWolves fell 76-71.

The undefeated Lady Wolves, coached by Gwyn Young, improved to15-0 on the season and 4-0 in division play. The Lady Wildcats(11-4, 1-3) were ranked No. 19 nationally.

The Co-Lin women led Pearl River 28-27 at halftime.

“In the first half, both teams struggled on offense but bothteams’ defense was good,” said Young. “Pearl River hurt us on theboards the first half but in the second half, we did a better jobof rebounding. In the second half, we made a couple of runs onPearl River but they always fought back and got within three pointsuntil we made our free throws at the end to win by 11 points.”

Powering the Lady Wolves with a game-high 33 points, five stealsand four assists was sophomore guard Tiania Burns. Shaquita Smithnetted 19 points, grabbed 11 rebounds. made five steals and blockedthree shots. Ayme Beeson made five steals and had nine assists.

Pearl River got 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists fromAudosha Kelley. Stephanie Gonzales and Kira Tillman collected ninepoints apiece. .

Gonzales also grabbed nine rebounds.

“Pearl River had an excellent team and this was a good win onthe road,” added Young.

Pearl River 76. Co-Lin 71

In the men’s game, Pearl River (13-2, 3-1) held a seven-point,35-28 lead over Co-Lin (6-9, 0-4) at the half. Co-Lin led by fourpoints with five minutes left in the game and made three straightmistakes that gave Pearl River a two-point lead.

“We played hard but again, we were unable to take care of theball,” stated Co-Lin men’s coach Dennis Sims. “We haven’t been ableto make plays down the stretch.”

Sophomore guard Jason Scott fired in 22 points, pulled down sixrebounds and had four assists for the Wolves. Jeremy Richardsonscored 20 points followed by Jerimie Collier with 15 points.

Yandell Brown directed the Wildcats with 24 points. Carlos Colefollowed with 14 points.

Co-Lin returns to Mullen Gymnasium Monday night to host divisionrival East Central for a doubleheader. The women begin play at 6p.m.