SCOOBA — The Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College closed out regular-season play in dominating fashion by scoring the game’s first 18 points en route to cruising to an 81-39 Sophomore Night  triumph over Northwest Mississippi during Wednesday’s MACCC North Division women’s basketball action played at EMCC’s Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.

The home-standing Lady Lions bolted to an 18-0 lead before Morgan Hodum scored Northwest’s initial basket with 1:19 left in the first quarter.  EMCC took a 22-2 lead into the second quarter and increased the margin to 30 points (43-13) late in the opening half following three straight baskets by Ja’Mia Hollings.

After doubling up the visitors, 16-8, during third-quarter action, EMCC’s advantage ballooned to 40 points (65-25) early in the fourth quarter on another Hollings bucket.

The 42-point victory marked the Lady Lions’ second sizable win within the past week after claiming a commanding 105-45 home triumph over Northeast Mississippi the previous week.

In shooting 53 percent (33-62 FGs) from the field for the game as a team, including 9-of-21 (43%) accuracy from beyond the three-point arc, the Lady Lions had all 10 available players score in the contest as well as hand out at least one assist.

Hollings and Jenessa Souza shared game scoring honors with 16 points apiece on a combined 14-of-20 shooting from the field.  Kyunna Thomas followed with 10 points and six rebounds off the EMCC bench, while Shakira Wilson and Siarra Jackson each added eight points to the winning effort.

Northwest was led by Hodum’s 10 points followed by Tierra Trotter and Ashton Stanley with nine and eight points, respectively.

Coach Sharon Thompson’s 10-4 EMCC Lady Lions and Coach Billy Begley’s 11-5 Lions are both slated to begin NJCAA Region 23 Basketball Tournament action next week.  With seedings and pairings still to be officially determined, the opening rounds of this year’s region tournament will be held at on-campus sites.  Following women’s and men’s play-in action respectively taking place on Monday and Tuesday (March 29-30), women’s first-round play is set to begin Wednesday (March 31) with the men’s first-round action starting on Thursday (April 1).