PERKINSTON, Miss. — The Pearl River women’s basketball team never trailed in its road victory over rival Gulf Coast 70-55. The Wildcat win was their second consecutive against the Bulldogs.

“We’ve been committed to the small things and tonight I think we showed that. We were focused for 40 minutes, we took better care of the basketball and we made more free throws tonight,” Pearl River coach Scotty Fletcher said. “Our ball movement was better, we attacked gaps the right way and were able to get a lot more assists with our ball movement.”

The Wildcats (2-3 overall; 2-3 MACCC South) started the game on a 7-0 run punctuated by an Otashae Burrage (Carthage; Leake County) 3-pointer before Gulf Coast (1-5 ; 0-5) got on the board. Pearl River didn’t take its foot off the gas, as it extended its lead to 10 points with 5 minutes left in the first quarter. 

With 3 minutes left in the first quarter, the Bulldogs went on a run of their own lowering the Wildcat lead to just 4 points before a pair of 3s from Burrage and Brandy Scott (Hammond, La) helped extend the Wildcat lead to 26-14. 

Pearl River kept its lead throughout the second quarter entering with a 37-28 advantage.

The Wildcats didn’t let up in the second half, ending the game with a 15-point lead that was capped off by a teardrop basket from Scott.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Scott led the Wildcats in scoring with a career-high 18 points. 
“She had a career night. I told her afterwards, ‘I’ve coached you so hard since August since you arrived and it was for moments like tonight,’” Fletcher said. “Tonight I thought the game paid her back due to her being committed to the game and committed to getting better.”
Bryanna Taylor (Terry) finished the night with 13 points. Burrage chipped in with 12 points on a trio of 3s. Keshunti Nichols (Pearl) and Marcavia Shavers (Biloxi) had 10 points apiece.

NEXT UP
The Wildcats will return to Marvin R. White Coliseum on Monday as they host Southwest. Opening tip is set for 6 p.m.

ATTENDANCE
Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there will not be general admission at home basketball games. Following guidelines set by the state of Mississippi, PRCC is limiting attendance to only players, coaches, spirit squads, the PRCC pep band, gameday personnel and family members. No Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference or Mississippi High School Activities Association passes will be accepted.

HOW TO TUNE IN
To help fans stay connected to the Wildcats this semester, Pearl River once again plans to stream all of its home events at PRCCMedia.com. Most events will be broadcast at PRCCMedia.com/Gold but in some instances where multiple teams are at home, PRCC will also have a feed on its auxiliary channel at PRCCMedia.com/Maroon. Fans who have Roku or Amazon Fire devices can also watch the Wildcats on their televisions by downloading the “Pearl River CC” channel from their app store.