WESSON – The Copiah-Lincoln Lady Wolves (24-0) used a 23-9 over the final 10 minutes of the first half gain the upper hand over East Mississippi (12-12) on their way to a 71-48 win over the Lady Lions in the quarterfinals of the MACJC State Tournament on Monday night in Wesson.

Co-Lin tied the game at 13-13 with 10:47 remaining in the first half on an Alexis Collins 3-pointer. Collins finished with a game high 19 points, including four first half 3-pointers. Co-Lin led 36-22 at halftime

In the second half it was sophomore Tyra Gibson who got hot from downtown. Gibson hit three 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes as the Lady Wolves finished 10-25 from deep in the game. Gibson finished with 11 points and also handed out eight assists in 25 minutes of action.

The Lady Wolves shot 49 percent from the floor (27-55) as opposed to 38 percent (18-47) for the Lady Lions. Co-Lin was able to hold Kiki Patterson, the leading scorer for East Mississippi, to eight points. The Mississippi State transfer came in averaging 14.3 points per game. Annessia Durham scored a team high 13 for East Mississippi.

The Lady Lions slowed the game early by playing deliberate on offense and stopping any Co-Lin transition by setting their zone defense. Co-Lin was able to quicken the pace by using their full court defense, causing 18 East Mississippi turnovers (11 first half). The meeting was the first between the teams since a 73-65 Co-Lin win in the 2010 MACJC State Tournament in Scooba.

Freshman Kelley Allen scored 13 points and grabbed a team high seven rebounds for the Lady Wolves. Co-Lin had a whopping 22 assists on 27 made baskets.

The Lady Wolves will play again on Wednesday at 6 p.m. against the Jones County Lady Bobcats in the semifinals. Jones, the South No. 3 seed, moved on after beating North No. 2 seed Northwest 91-71 in the nightcap.

In the first game of the day it was South No.4 seed Meridian springing a 76-74 upset on North No. 1 seed Itawamba. South No. 2 seed Eat Central had little problem with North No. 3 seed Holmes 90-69 in the other quarterfinal game. Meridian and East Central will meet at 1 p.m. on Wednesday in the first semifinal.

In men’s action on today it’s Jones versus Northeast in a 1 p.m. tip of the first game of the day. The rest of the schedule for today is Holmes versus East Central (2:45 p.m.), Pearl River versus Delta (6 p.m.) and East Mississippi versus Gulf Coast (7:45 p.m.).