The Lady Bears have been playing efficiently as of late and their strong run continued Thursday following an 87-32 win at home over Southern-Shreveport in the final game of the 2021 calendar year.
“The vibe is great and everyone got a run tonight,” SMCC head coach Brent Harris said.
“But it is more than that, we have grown.”
Thursday’s win is the seventh in the last eight contests and fourth in a row for the Lady Bears (7-3). SMCC had four players finish in double figures in scoring.
And even though Shylia McGee led the way with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, she gave a large portion of the credit to the reserves.
“The starting five wanted the bench to play so we got out there and played hard and then we just got to the bench and cheered them on,” she said.
“It is like I said, I had more fun on the bench than I had on the court.”
In addition to McGee’s big night, SMCC also got stellar performances offensively from Gabby Bunch who had 13 points, and Nia Hardison and Lynn Griffin who posted 11 each.
And while the offense shined for the Lady Bears, it was the defense who made the first statement with a strong defensive stand in the first few minutes of play.
The Lady Bears held the Lady Jaguars scoreless for nearly the first four and a half minutes of the game.
The Lady Bear defense held their opponents to four first quarter points.
A combination of a strong offense and a smothering defense continued in the second quarter as SMCC grew its 14 point advantage to a 19-point lead at the half.
Seven different Lady Bears scored in the third quarter with five of them making a shot from 3-point range.
With a big lead, Coach Harris put in his reserves who kept up the momentum in the fourth before sealing the win.
The Lady Bears return to action on Jan. 4 at 2 p.m. with a home contest against Baton Rouge Community College.