Back on Nov. 18, the Mississippi University for Women women’s basketball team traveled to Paragould, Arkansas, to face Crowleys Ridge.
The Owls used 14 players in that game, with MG Chamberlain scoring 15 points and Rokila Wallace adding 14 in an 82-53 whipping at the hands of the Pioneers.
So with only seven players available Tuesday night for the Pioneers’ return trip, the rematch figured to be ugly for The W.
Well, it wasn’t pretty, but it was more competitive, as Chamberlain poured in 24 points in a 65-50 loss to the Pioneers at Pohl Gym.
Chamberlain and Jasmine Shaw each played all 40 minutes, Hannah Duran played 38 minutes, 50 seconds, and Audrey Foreman played just shy of 35 minutes for the Owls, who were also dealing with rust after not playing since a 58-46 loss to Hendrix on Dec. 17.
But they came out strong, leading 18-12 after one and building an 8-point lead on two Foreman free throws a minute into the second quarter. But the young Pioneers — each team started three freshmen — dominated the middle two quarters, outscoring the Owls 38-16 during the second and third periods. The biggest lead for Crowleys Ridge came at the 3:37 mark of the fourth quarter, when a three-point play from Lizzy Rowton gave them a 61-42 lead.
Rowton and Lotti Hoffman each scored 13 points to lead the Pioneers.
The Pioneers held an advantage in every way you could score: points off turnovers (27-10), points in the paint (40-10), second-chance points (14-4), fast-break points (13-0) and bench points (20-0). The Owls were outshot 41.8 percent to 32 percent, although they did hit 6 of 13 3-point shots to just 5 of 23 for the Pioneers and they made 12 of 17 free throws while the Pioneers hit 4 of 10..
Maddie Guerin led The W (1-11) in rebounds with 9 and assists with 3.
Ten players scored for the Pioneers (8-10).
The Owls are scheduled to make a Friday trip to Florida to face Pensacola Christian (13-2at 5:30 p.m. It will be the first of two games against the Eagles, who will visit Pohl Gym on Feb. 17 in the Owls’ season finale.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.