POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River women's basketball team took the lead with five minutes left in the first quarter and never looked back Saturday afternoon, crushing Delgado 80-50 inside Marvin R. White Coliseum.
"That's the first time all year that another team has scored off the opening tip," Pearl River coach Scotty Fletcher said. "I really, really mean this. That is an extremely tough team over there. Our goal was to hold them to 45 points, and they clipped us for 50.
"What I am really proud of today is that we only gave up three offensive rebounds. I thought our defense was really good overall and we shot the ball extremely well."
FIRST HALF
Delgado (3-4 overall) got the scoring started just a few seconds into the contest, knocking down a 3-pointer from the right wing.
Pearl River (4-0) took its first lead of the game with 7:49 remaining in the first quarter. Jaliscia Florence (Tupelo) swatted a pass away from the Dolphins, picked up the loose ball and went coast-to-coast for a layup. The basket made the score 4-3.
DCC recovered from the deficit instantly, taking a 9-6 lead. A few plays later, Keshunti Nichols (Pearl) gave the Wildcats a lead that they wouldn't relinquish. The sophomore forward fought for an offensive rebound and immediately put it back up for a 10-9 lead.
PRCC went ahead 16-9 after back-to-back connections from Ty'Mesha Reed (Meridian) and Hama'ya Fielder (Philadelphia; Neshoba Central). On each play, Reed found a wide-open Fielder in the corner. The freshman guard caught the pass both times and hit nothing-but-net on her 3-point shots.
Halle Traylor (Tupelo) hit from beyond-the-arc near the end of the first frame, catching a pass from Reed and knocking down the 3-pointer from the right wing.
Just before the first quarter ended, Khyla Ragins (Booneville; Harrison Central) got on the scoresheet for the first time as her jumper was good. The score made it a 27-13 lead for the Wildcats.
Pearl River opened the second quarter with another 3-pointer. This time, Ragins passed off to Traylor who slashed home her shot attempt for a 30-13 lead.
Midway through the quarter, Marcavia Shavers (Biloxi) struck on back-to-back possessions. On the first, she bodied up a defender before laying it off the glass and in. The second basket saw her fight for an offensive rebound and put it back up for a 37-15 advantage.
PRCC took a 46-21 advantage before the halftime buzzer sounded as Nichols slashed inside and caught a pass from Reed before laying it off the backboard and in.
SECOND HALF
After a PRCC miss to open the second half of the evening, Shavers grabbed the rebound and laid the ball back up and in to make the score 48-25.
The Wildcats pulled ahead 64-34 midway through the third quarter, largely thanks to J'Mani Ingram (North Augusta, S.C.). Ingram first picked up a contact layup before cutting inside on the next Wildcat possession for an easy layup. The Winthrop transfer picked up an assist soon after passing inside the paint to Prairie View A&M transfer Tierra Simon (Houston, Texas.; Heights) who put home an easy layup.
A few plays later, Alexis Arrington (Terry) extended the lead to 67-34 with a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer. Arrington was fed a pass from Reed and promptly hit the shot.
Arrington extended the lead to 70-36 to start the fourth quarter of the evening, dashing inside and getting a teardrop shot to fall.
Ragins got a layup to fall with roughly five minutes left in the game, extending the PRCC lead to 76-39.
After an Alayla Meadows (Bay St. Louis; Bay) free throw was good, Brandy Scott (Hammond, La.) capped the Wildcat scoring as she knocked down a corner 3-pointer off a feed from Arrington. PRCC held on to win the contest 80-50.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Traylor led Pearl River in scoring with 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting.
"I cannot brag enough about Halle Traylor and how hard she works," Fletcher said. "She's one of the hardest-working players that I have ever coached. She believes that she's 6-foot-5 and can play in the NBA. When you have that heart and passion, it's a formula for excellence."
Fielder finished in second with 11 points.
Shavers and Simon each hauled in 10 points on the afternoon. Simon and Shavers each led the rebounding effort with eight and seven, respectively.
Reed finished with a team-high six assists.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats hit the road Monday for a game against Tallahassee. The contest is set to get underway at 1 p.m. and will be livestreamed at tcceagles.com/athletics/Presto_Stream.
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