CLINTON – Angelique Burtts already has signed with Georgia StateUniversity so her future is certain. The next challenge for theEast Mississippi standout is to lead her team on a successful runin the NJCAA National Basketball Tournament in Salina, Kan., March17-21.

Burtts, an athletic 5-foot-11 forward from Conyers, Ga., was atower of strength Thursday night. She led the EMCC Lady Lions to a52-43 upset of Co-Lin’s ice-cold Lady Wolves in the championshipfinals of the Region 23 Tournament at Mississippi College. Sheaccounted for game-high totals of 20 points and 13 rebounds as herteam avenged two previous losses to Co-Lin, both by 19-pointmargins.

In the men’s championship game, Gulf Coast knocked off Holmes67-64.

The Lady Lions (24-5), fresh from knocking off state championJones County 76-73 in the region semifinals, used a smotheringdefense and a hustling offense to dispose of Co-Lin (26-4) whichhad been ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation this season.

As the Lions celebrated and posed for pictures last night on theMike Jones Court located in A.E. Wood Coliseum, EMCC coach SharonThompson accepted hugs and congratulations from well wishers.Thompson said her team had sought another shot at Co-Lin.

“Co-Lin is who we wanted to play,” said Thompson, a formerAll-SEC star at Mississippi State. “They beat us bad by 19 pointsboth times. It was a revenge game for us. Our kids were ready toplay.”

In what Co-Lin coach Gwyn Young considered probably the worstoffensive performance by one of his teams in 33 years at the helm,the Lady Wolves shot a cold 23 percent from the field. In the firsthalf, they shot a colder 19 percent but managed to trail by 3points, 22-19, at halftime, thanks to 11 EMCC turnovers.

“This has got to be the worst I’ve ever seen us shoot for agame,” said Young, looking at the final statistics. “Our outsideshooting was horrible.”

Co-Lin only made 2 of 21 shots from beyond the 3-point line.Freshman guard Latoria Holder had sacked a career-high 33 points inWednesday’s semifinals victory over Meridian but she was limited to5 points by EMCC’s sticky defense.

“Part of the problem was their defense,” said Young. “We pickeda bad time to shoot poorly. I told our girls they still had a greatseason.”

A week earlier, Young’s team had lost a narrow 59-57 decision toJones County in the state tournament finals at Ellisville.

Thompson said Burtts was a special player. “She has carried usall season. She picked it up tonight.”

A Rhonda Dumas jump shot from the left side had pulled Co-Linwithin 4 points, 41-37, with 7:02 left in the game. Burtts providedthe insurance points with a layup off Co-Lin’s full-court pressure.She followed with 2 short jumpers, increasing the margin to49-42.

Martika Hull, a 5-11 freshman from Meridian, followed Burttswith 17 points and 8 rebounds. She was poked in the eye and had toleave the game for a few minutes, with her team clinging to a4-point lead.

Freshman Shareka Hunt led Co-Lin’s offensive with 12 points and11 rebounds. Rachel Vigers added 11 points and 4 rebounds.

EMCC won its first 2 regional tests by 3-point margins overNorthwest and Jones County. The revenge motivation came from 69-50and 62-43 losses to Co-Lin.