CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College women's basketball team opened up a 22-point lead in the second half and held on for an 81-67 victory over Huntingdon on Friday night at A.E. Wood Coliseum.

The Lady Choctaws (1-0) and the Lady Hawks (0-1) joined Berry College and Howard Payne in the inaugural Zaxby's Coaches vs. Cancer Classic held at the "Golden Dome".  All proceeds from the tournament will go directly to the American Cancer Society.

After a layup by Tanjanik Munford of Huntingdon tied the game, 14-14, with 12:13 left in the first half, the Lady Choctaws would go on a 15-0 run over the next six minutes to grab their largest lead of the period.

In the second half, senior Caitlin Brown made a jumper to give MC their biggest lead of the night at 71-49 with 7:13 remaining in the game.

Huntingdon would go on a 12-0 run, spearheaded by Morgan Crawfrord, who finished the night with a game-high 28 points.  Crawford tallied a double-double with 10 steals on the night.

MC would hold off the late charge and get the season-opening victory.  The Lady Choctaws put up 18 second-chance points and 39 points off the bench.

The Lady Choctaws shot just 39% (24-62) from the floor, but went 29-37 from the free throw line in the victory.  MC outrebounded the Lady Hawks 51-40, led by senior Ebony Williams with a career-high 14 boards.

Senior Elizabeth Brooks led the team with 16 points, going 4-7 from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line.  Senior Whitney Enis scored 14 points in her MC debut, going 3-5 from the floor.  The Hardin-Simmons transfer went 7-7 from the foul line.

The Lady Choctaws will be back in action on Saturday when they wrap up the Zaxby's Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at 3:00 p.m. against Berry College.  Howard Payne and Huntingdon will start the day with a matchup at 1:00 p.m.