POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The No. 13 Pearl River women's basketball team was nearly unstoppable on the offensive side Saturday afternoon inside Marvin R. White Coliseum as the Wildcats used 10 different scorers to defeat Southern University-Shreveport 96-53.

"We have to clean some things up. You could tell we hadn't played in a week," head coach Scotty Fletcher said. "We shared the ball today. This team is very unselfish. Everyone that played today contributed in some form or fashion."

Pearl River (7-0 overall) opened the day up with an incredible 30-point first quarter against Southern University-Shreveport (2-5). The Wildcats scored the game's first eight points behind a Jae'la Smith (Vicksburg; Porter's Chapel) 3-pointer, a Thailan Payne (Southaven; Desoto Central) basket and a Mattison Bell (Philadelphia; Choctaw Central) 3-pointer.

When the clock hit 4:39 in the opening frame, PRCC led 21-4 after two Mikayla Riley (Tupelo) free throws. Back-to-back solid plays from Sanyla Smith (Tupelo) extended the advantage to 24-4. On the first, she snatched an offensive rebound and scored. The second saw her pluck the ball away at midcourt, dash inside the lane, fake a pass to a teammate and then score. PRCC eventually led 30-9 after a quarter.

The second quarter was much tighter as PRCC only outscored the Jaguars 22-18 in the frame. Pearl River took a 31-point lead with five minutes remaining in the second quarter as Riley tossed an inbound pass to Natasha Barnes (Chicago, Ill.; Kenwood Academy) for a 3-pointer. The Wildcats took a 52-27 lead into halftime. 

Pearl River moved the production up a notch in the third quarter, scoring an incredible 29 points compared to the Jaguars' eight. The first six of the quarter came from beyond the arc as Jae'la Smith hit the first one, and Jazmine Jackson (Jacksonville, Fla.; Andrew Jackson) tacked on the second. Following a Sydney Lewis (Upper Marlboro, Md.; McLean School) layup, Riley struck from deep to push PRCC ahead 64-27. Barnes added another 3-pointer for PRCC in the frame and the Wildcats carried an 81-35 advantage into the final quarter.

Peyton Hearvey (Tupelo) and Payne scored the fourth quarter's first eight points. Hearvey knocked down a pair of easy jumpers to open things before Payne picked up four points. The first Payne basket was assisted by a Kori Ware (Pontotoc) jump pass, and the second was a Sanyla Smith pass underneath, 89-41

When the final buzzer sounded, Pearl River took home a 43-point, 96-53 victory over the Jaguars. 

BY THE NUMBERS
Of the 12 players that featured in the contest for Pearl River, 10 got on the scoresheet. Five of them managed double-digit points.

Jackson led the offensive effort, scoring 15 points in just 16 minutes of action. She finished 6-for-8 from the field. Riley was second with 14 points on 4-for-6 shooting. Hearvey scored 13 points and hauled in six rebounds. Barnes finished with 12 points, five assists and three steals. Jae'la Smith scored 11 points and added four rebounds and four steals.

NEXT UP
Pearl River heads to Gadsden State on Monday for a 3 p.m. game.

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