2004

WEEKOF llmW"OwAJ~h~/ ________

The Lady Warriors, who never trailed in the contest, 1eld a 35-30 advantage at intermission. East Central, ranked 17th in the latest NJCAA poll, will lOW have its sights set on the Region 23 Tournamen ;cheduled March 1-4 at Mississippi College in Clinton. fhe Lady Warriors begin first-r~und action against Mississippi Delta Community College at 6 p.m. Semi– finals in the womenis bracket are set for 12:30 and 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, with the championship matchup planned at 6 p.m. Thursday. Lady Warrior tournament action can be heard on The Lady Warriors, after trailing throughout most of the first half, rallied for a nine-point win over the Lady Bulldogs. Rita Birden led EC in scoring with 18 points. Other point makers were Kristin Chaney, 15; Kimyatta Viverette, 14; Kotreece Bender, nine; Lenore Gray, six; Kim Cox of Lake, five; India Backstrom, three; and Britney Burks, two. JoAnna Williams of Gulfport had 25 points to lead Gulf Coast, which fell to 20-7. The score was tied 29-29 at halftime. ECCC 72, ITAWAMBA 58. The LadyWarriors began tournament action by cruising past the Lady Indians. Kristin Chaney was the leading scorer with 18 points. Also scoring were Kotreece Bender and Rita Birden, 11 each; India Backstrom, nine; Kim Cox, seven; Lenore Gray, six; Britney Burks, five ; Monique Overstreet, three; and Kimyatta Viverette, two. Tiffaw Garth of Tupelo led ltawamba (13-13) with 27 points.e East entral held a slim 28-26 lead at the break. WZKR-FM (103.3) in Meridian. ECCC 72, GULF COAST 63.

ECCC Lady Warriors win state title From press reports East Central Community Collegefs Lady Warriors sur– vived a late rally by Jones County Junior College to po.st a 73-64 victory over the Lady Bobcats for the. ~A<;;Jq womenis title Thursday night at Northeast Mtsstss1pp1 Community College in Booneville. The Lady Warriors, who improved to 26-2 and ~arned the programis first state title in 25 years, hel~ a shm 69- 64 lead until freshman Kristin Chaneyis lay-m and sub– sequent free throw gave EC an eight-point lead with just 49 seconds remaining. Head coach Brad Hodge later commented that Chaneyis three-point play iput a dagger in their hearts.i He added, iShe alone made all the stops on their runs. Sheis got a championis heart, and you canit teach that. Thank good– ness sheis on our team.i . Chaney, a product of Newton County H~gh School, had 13 points and was one of three Lady Warnors who ~cored in double figures. Lenore Gray of Newton l~d EC ~1th 22 points, followed by Kotreece Bender of Newton. w1th 1~. Also scoring were Kimyatta Viverette ofLake, nme; Ind1a Backstrom of Neshoba Central, five ; Rita Birden of St. Fredrick High School , Monroe, La., four; Kim Cox of Lake, three; Britney Burks of Scott Central, two; and Miranda Rosar ofNeshoba Central, one. Natalie Jordan of Waynesboro and Brittany Baham of ~ew Orleans each had 23 points to lead the Lady Bobcats, ~ho fell to 14-13.

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CARTHAGINIAN------– --NESHOBA DEMOCRAT--- – NEWTON RECORD-----– MERIDIAN STAR------– CLARION-LEDGER------

LAKE MESSENGER-------– SCOTT COUNTY TIMES------ UNION APPEAL / WINSTON COUNTY JOURNAL--- - SPIRIT OF MORTON-------- IMPACT ___________________