NICEVILLE, Fla. – The No. 9 Pearl River women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought contest Saturday, 66-53, at No. 1 Northwest Florida State. A smothering Wildcat defense held the top-ranked Raiders to their second-lowest first-half point total of the season.
"Hats off to Northwest Florida; they are extremely well coached. We always play them tough. We came down here and gave supreme effort." Pearl River head coach Scotty Fletcher said. "We had 18 steals today; that is a contribution to our effort. I thought our defense was really good and disruptive.
"Overall, with us being short-handed, I thought we really competed and had maximum effort. We were excited; I thought we represented our region and conference well. This weekend will definitely prepare us."
FIRST QUARTER
No. 1 Northwest Florida (11-0) took advantage of some early Wildcat miscues to jump to a quick 6-0 lead. Pearl River (7-2) clawed its way back into the contest as Alexis Arrington (Terry) knocked the ball loose from a Raider; the loose ball was picked up by Tiir Nyok (High Point, N.C.; Southwest Guilford), grabbed control of the loose ball. Samya Brooks (Pontotoc) converted on the offensive end for PRCC by pulling down a rebound off a Wildcat miss and laying it in for the basket, 2-6.
Taylor Johnson-Mathhews (Cleveland, Ohio; Charles F. Brush) closed the gap to two with a drive the length of the court, culminating with a layup, 4-6. Mikayla Riley (Tupelo) brought the deficit to one, hitting a free throw after a foul on a drive to the basket.
Down by three, Riley again got the Wildcats within one. Riley dribbled around the edge of the top of the key before driving to the goal for the basket, 7-8.
The River grabbed their first lead of the game after Taylor-Matthews hit both free throws with 49 seconds remaining in the quarter, 9-8.
SECOND QUARTER
After both teams opened the quarter with turnovers, Riley Freeman (Brandon) put the Wildcats up four with a 3-pointer from the wing, 12-8. A Johnson-Matthews layup at the 7:33 mark kept the Wildcat lead at four, 14-10. The Raiders tied the game with back-to-back baskets, 14-14.
Following a Raider 3-pointer, Johnson-Mattews hit both free throws after a foul on a drive to the basket to pull the Wildcats within one, 17-16.
Coming out of a timeout, Brooks received a nice pass from Freeman, followed with a nice spin move in the post, and hit a short jumper for her second basket of the night, 20-23.
The Wildcats closed the deficit to one point at the end of the half, 23-22. Hama'ya Fielder (Philadelphia, Miss.; Neshoba Central) pulled down a long rebound off a Raider miss; Fielder found Freeman, who spun past a defender at the top of the key and drove the lane for a basket.
THIRD QUARTER
The Raiders opened the second half with two 3-pointers to extend the lead to seven points, 29-22.
Riley cut the lead to five with two free throws, 29-24, with 7:04 remaining in the quarter. Riley went from scorer to facilitator when she found Johnson-Matthews on an inbound pass to keep the Wildcats within striking distance, 32-26.
Riley continued to make her presence felt after receiving a pass from Kamren Edwards (Jackson; Murrah) on the wing; Riley drove through the lane and laid the ball in for the basket, 34-28.
The Wildcats cut the deficit to three points after Fielder got her hand on a Raider pass. Johnson-Matthews picked up the loose ball and found Freeman in the paint for an easy lay-in, 34-31.
With 1:04 remaining in the quarter, Pearl River was able to cut a nine-pointer Raider lead to seven after Johnson-Matthews received an inbound pass from Arrington, drove to the basket, and put in a layup, 43-36.
The Wildcats entered the fourth quarter down by seven, 44-37.
FOURTH QUARTER
A Freeman 3-pointer at the 7:12 mark stopped a nine-point run by the Raiders at the beginning of the final period, 53-40.
Following a Leah Wilcher (Brookhaven) defensive rebound, Riley drove past Raider defenders and hit a short jumper in the lane to bring the score to 57-42.
Later in the quarter, Johnson-Matthews pulled down a defensive rebound, drove the length of the court, and hit a layup, 64-45.
Johnson-Matthews hit a contested 3-pointer with 1:58 remaining, 64-48.
Fielder scored four points for the Wildcats late in the quarter. With the Wildcats pressuring, Fielder collected an errant Raider inbound pass and put the ball in off the glass, 66-50. In the final minute of play, Fielder again picked up a loose ball on a Raider inbound play and hit a short jumper for the game's final points, 66-53.
BY THE NUMBERS
Pearl River had three Wildcats score in double-digits.
Johnson-Matthews led all scorers with 24 points while adding six steals and two rebounds.
"Taylor really proved herself this weekend. We have known it since we signed her; she has proved she is one of the best players in the country." Fletcher said. "Her play against ranked opponents, having a double-double yesterday, and how she has played this season thus far. To go out there against the No. 1 team in the country and defending national champions, score 24 and establish herself as one of the elite playmakers in the country is a credit to her and her work ethic."
Riley contributed 11 points, three rebounds and one steal.
"Riley was really good, she was exactly what she has been for us all year." Fletcher said. "She stepped up, played really physical, really in touch with the game. Did a good job of scoring, drawing fouls, good defensively with her assignments.
Freeman added 10 points, four steals, two assists and one rebound.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats return home to face Columbia State on Wednesday. Tipoff in the Marvin R. White Coliseum is 5:30 p.m.
TUNE IN
All home Pearl River basketball games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. Fans who have Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.
Games will also be available over the air in Pearl River County by tuning into 1320 AM and 106.9 FM. The radio broadcast is also available at WRJWRadio.com and by downloading the WRJW app.
TICKETS
To help improve traffic flow and fan experience, PRCC athletics box offices will be cashless in 2023-24. Only credit and debit cards will be accepted at the box office. Fans are encouraged to beat the lines and purchase their tickets in advance at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets.
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