LUMBERTON — Monday night the Poplarville Lady Hornets got a much-needed win on the road at Lumberton.  The finish came down to the wire as Poplarville won 60-57 and improved their record to 2-5 on the season.

With Poplarville leading 57-55 and 42.5 seconds left in the game, sophomore guard Jasmine Merrill was fouled, stepped to the line and missed both free throws, keeping Lumberton in the game.

On the next possession, Lumberton junior guard Tamya Bush was fouled and sank both free throws to tie the game at 57 with 32.5 seconds. 

Merrill redeemed herself with the game-winning layup at the 10 second mark to give Poplarville a 59-57 lead. Junior guard Mallory Smith converted one of two free throws to push the Lady Hornet lead to 60-57. Lumberton got one last look from three, but couldn’t convert as time expired.

Junior forward Zanaisha Turner had a career game and led all scorers with 37 points and nine rebounds. She was unstoppable and scored in a myriad of ways. Turner scored off of coast-to-coast steals, put backs, mid range jumpers and  drives to the basket. 

Smith added 11 points and seven rebounds. Merrill had eight points and seven rebounds.

Poplarville limited their turnovers compared to previous games, where they had 20 plus. Against Lumberton, they had 15, which shows improvement.

The Lady Hornets host Long Beach (2-10) on Friday.