WESSON – The Co-Lin Lady Wolves flirted with disaster Tuesday night in Mullen Gymnasium. They shot a cold 31 percent from the field, fell behind by 14 points in the second half  but still managed to prevail 66-65 over East Central Community College on a pair of free throws by Chanta Poole with 51 seconds left in the game.

     Poole, a 5-6 sophomore guard from Ferriday, La., finished with 12 points. She made 5 of 6 at the charity line.

     “It was a game that wasn’t supposed to be that close but we came away with a win,” Poole admitted.

     Co-Lin improved its record to  12-3 overall and 3-1 in the South Division.  East Central, under first-year coach Crandal Porter, fell to 4-11 and 1-3.

     “We shoot free throws in every practice,” said Poole. “We have to make seven out of 10.”

     Overall, Co-Lin only made 23 of 43 from the charity line last night. T’Keya Moore scored a team-high 19 points but was 3 of 10 at the charity line.

     “We missed 20 free throws,” Co-Lin women’s coach Gwyn Young noted. “East Central played us really tough on defense and went to the boards. We weren’t as physical or tough on defense. Our subs did a good job for us.”

     Young saw his substitutes outscore East Central 31-5. Starting forward Vintrice Briggs scored 11 points and center LaVasha Allen had 11 rebounds.

     The Lady Warriors got a game-high 26 points from Jaianah Matthew,  a 5-8 sophomore guard from Texarkana, Ark. Matthew sacked 7 treys. Xandra Dowd, a 5-8 sophomore guard from Monroe, La., added 17 points and 15 rebounds.

     East Central went up by 14 points, 44-30, on a trey from Matthew with 14:17 left in the game. Coach Young called for a timeout to regroup and Co-Lin gradually worked its way back in the game.

     The Lady Wolves took the lead at 48-47 on a free throw by Moore with 8:19 left. She tacked on a putback field goal for a 50-47 advantage.

          Co-Lin hosts Hinds Thursday night for a South Division twinbill, starting with the women’s game at 6 p.m.