1996

EC ladies fall in Region 23 By Robbie Robertson The Meridian Star CLINTON - Some things aren't meant to be. East Central advancmg in the Region 23 Tournament is one of them. The Lady Warriors struggled from the field, hitting only 28- of-81 shots, and fell behind by as many as 16 points before making a mad scramble that fell short en route to an 86-81 loss to Northeast Mississippi Community College in the open– ing round of the Region 23 Tournament here Monday at A.E. Wood Coliseum on the campus ofMississippi College. The Lady Warriors end the year at 17-11 while Northeast improves to 19-9. Today's action in the Region 23 Tournament will feature a 1 p.m. contest between Gulf Coast and Meridian Community College. No matter what East Central tried on this day, it didn't seem to matter; nothing was going to work. The Lady Warriors strug– gled in every way imaginable. Northeast outshot East Central from the floor - 45 per– cent to 34 percent. From the free throw line, the Lady Tigers hit 32-of-47 for 68 percent while the Lady Warriors made only 21-of-37 free throws for a 56 percent clip. Northeast also claimed a 44-31 advantage in rebounds. "It just wasn't the right day on the lunar calender for us," East Central coach Sammy Pace said. "It just wasn't our day. We had some opportunities and just couldn't make the shots. It's just a hard game to explain." For the Lady Tigers, who split with East Central during the regular season, the most important thing in the game happened in the first five min– utes. East Central All-state per– former Melody Reed picked up three fouls in those first five minutes and didn't play the rest of the half. "The big difference for us was

P•ul• MerrltVThe Merldl•n S East Central's Mona Owen hauls down a rebound over Northeast's Summer Stroup.

changed our entire game plan," Pace said. "That was only the second time that she got in early foul trouble and it showed. The first time we lost by eight at Co- L . " m. The game was close in the early going as East Central led 8-7 on a Reed bucket at the 16:21 mark. Northeast then scored the next six points to go up 13-8. After Reed scored her eighth point of the game at the 14:39 mark to make the score 13-10, she picked up her third personal foul of the game. Pace was hit

with a technical foul a Northeast hit three of the fo shots to go up 16-10. The Lady Tigers scored t next five to go up 21-10. The Lady Warriors then w on a 10-0 run over the next ~ minutes to cut the lead to 21-2 East Central was still in t game late in the first half at t 3:53 mark when they trailed l 23. From that point, the L~ Tigers hit eight straight throws and outscored ECCC See ECCC, Page 48

when Reed fouled out," Northeast coach Ricky Ford said. "We didn't have anybody that could handle her and when she picked up her third foul we were able to build a lead and hold on to it. Her not playing 15 minutes in the first half was def– initely the best thing that could have happened to us." For the Lady Warriors, Reed getting in early foul trouble was the worst thing that could have happened. East Central went from being down by four at 13- 10 to trailing 41-29 at the half. ''When we lost Reed, it totally