POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Behind a 35-point first quarter, the No. 10 Pearl River women's basketball team throttled Northwest 91-38 on Monday night inside Marvin R. White Coliseum. Three Wildcats tallied 17 points, and the PRCC defense allowed just 11 points in the first and second periods.

"The 35 points in the first quarter were huge," head coach Scotty Fletcher said. "I'm so proud of our girls; it's an honor to be called their coach." "We had a chip on our shoulder; we know what kind of ballclub we have, and we're always going to be tough to beat."

FIRST HALF
Pearl River (19-3 Overall; 6-1 MACCC) opened the game against Northwest (13-6; 5-3) with Tiir Nyok (High Point, N.C.; Southwest Guilford) finding an offensive rebound and connecting with Samya Brooks (Pontotoc) via an underhand pass beneath the basket. Brooks banked in the 2-pointer. Another offensive rebound by Brooks set the lead at 4-0. Taylor Johnson-Matthews (Cleveland, Ohio; Charles F. Brush) flashed her athleticism, bobbing and weaving from the arc and through the paint for a layup. Avery Young (Iota, La.) then assisted an open Hama'ya Fielder (Philadelphia; Neshoba Central) for the game's first 3-pointer, 9-3, Wildcats.

Young picked up an offensive rebound and hit a floater, setting the score at 13-9, PRCC. This began a 16-0 Wildcat run. Nyok intercepted and tossed a pass to Fielder, who knocked down a smooth 3-pointer, 21-9. Audria Houston (Oxford; Tupelo) scored her first points off a jumper from the right side. Young picked up the assist before hitting a jumper of her own.

Nyok found another steal and converted it for two on the fastbreak, 27-9. With one minute remaining, NWCC finally slowed the Wildcats down with a basket, but Brooklyn Anderson (Greeneville, Tenn.; North Greene) picked PRCC right back up, rebounding her own ball and putting it back, 30-11.

Johnson-Matthews closed out the impressive first period by recording five points of her own. She launched a calm and collected 3-pointer before hitting a floater from the left side to close out the first period at 35-11.

Johnson-Matthews picked up right where she left off, nailing a 3-pointer off the left side to open the second period. She then picked the ball off an opposing player and led a Wildcat fastbreak down the court for a wide-open layup, 44-18, Pearl River.

Back-and-forth passing found Fielder wide open, where she notched a 3-pointer. Marley Freeman (Brandon) was on the assist. On the next possession opportunity, and from nearly the same place, Freeman knocked down another 3-pointer. This gave the Wildcats a 30-point lead, 50-20.

Avery Young displayed great passing ability to close out the first half. She first produced a cross-court dime that found Fielder beyond the arc for an open dagger. Young then scanned the court before unleashing a clean pass down center-court for an easy Anderson layup. Young then knocked down a fadeaway off the right wing, setting the score at 57-20, PRCC. Young capped off her impressive first half, going two-for-two from the free-throw line. The half closed at 59-22.

SECOND HALF
As loud as the first half was, the second half began slowly. Brooks started the scoring for Pearl River in the second half, going one-for-two on free throws. Fielder completed a coast-to-coast steal with a layup. With three minutes remaining in the third period, the Wildcats led 66-26.

Young faked a shot and executed a speedy bounce pass to Brooks, who nailed a layup, 69-31.

In the final period, Nyok scored first for the Wildcats as she pushed through contact for a basket inside. She immediately followed that up with a swish off the left corner, 74-33. Brooks was on the assist. Nyok continued to show off, jumping up and intercepting a pass before converting the wide-open layup. Johnson-Matthews skated around defenders inside for a layup, 78-35.

Nyok baited the defenders as if she was going for a layup and found Houston under the basket, who added two, 82-38. Young continued her excellent passing, taking the ball off a rebound and finding Anderson underneath the basket for two. Freeman hit her lone 3-pointer of the contest between two Anderson jumpers, banking it smoothly off the backboard and in. The final score was 91-38.

LEADING THE WAY
Three players led the Wildcats in scoring. Anderson finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points and hauling in 13 rebounds. She was 8-for-14 from the field. Fielder also had 17 points, shooting 6-for-14 and 5-for-11 from 3-point range. She also had six steals. Johnson-Matthews also notched 17 points, going 7-for-16 from the field and 2-for-6 from beyond the arc.

Young followed closely behind with 14 points. She shot 5-for-10 in total while going 4-for-4 on free throw attempts. She led the team with six assists.

"She responded the right way. That's why we signed her," Fletcher said of Young. "I thought she was phenomenal and controlled the tempo very well."

Pearl River dominated the boards in the game, out-rebounding the Rangers 57 to 20. PRCC also brought in 31 offensive rebounds.

"The biggest stat to me is that we had 31 offensive rebounds," Fletcher said. "We saw last week that we were not attacking the glass, so I'm really proud of that number."

NEXT UP
Pearl River hits the road Thursday for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff at Southwest. The game will be livestreamed at Go.SMCCBears.TV.

The game can be heard at 1320-AM, 106.9 FM and WRJWRadio.com.

For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).

PRESS RELEASE WRITTEN BY PEARL RIVER ATHLETICS INTERN, JAXON DUNAWAY.