MONTGOMERY, AL - The Mississippi College women's basketball team opened the 2011 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic with a 67-60 win over Oglethorpe on Thursday afternoon at Roland Arena on the campus of Huntingdon College.
It was the second of 15 games to be played on the weekend with 15 teams coming from nine states. All proceeds will go to the Coaches vs. Cancer effort to raise awareness.
The Lady Choctaws (5-4) held the Stormy Petrels (3-8) to just 33% (16-49) shooting for the game and only 21% (4-19) in the second half. MC shot 48% (24-50) for the game, including 52% in the first half.
MC led by as many as nine points in the early going, but Oglethorpe came back to take a 25-24 advantage with 6:41 remaining in the first half. The Lady Choctaws closed out the period on a 15-7 run to take a seven-point lead into the break.
In the second half, junior Valeri Stewart made a basket with 5:12 to go that gave MC their biggest lead of the game at 60-44. The Stormy Petrels would score the next 10 points of the game to cut the lead to six with just 2:33 left in the game. The Lady Choctaws made five of six free throws down the stretch to clinch the victory.
In the second half, MC held Oglethorpe to just 11 points from the floor, but 17 made free throws kept the game close.
Junior Caitlin Brown led the Lady Choctaws with 12 points on 4-9 shooting, while Stewart added 11 points off the bench. Junior Kristin Newsome led the team with eight rebounds. Sophomore Sarah Workman had five of MC's 17 steals and led the way with three assists.
Oglethorpe was led by Sarah Jones, who paced all scorers with 21 points on 5-8 shooting from the three-point line. Morghan Brandon and Kyana Jenkins added nine points apiece.
For head coach Paul Allen Duke, it was his 297th win over 17 seasons as the leader of the Lady Choctaws.
MC will be back in action on Friday when they face Centre College at 11:00 a.m. in Roland Arena.