Jones falls to Pearl River despite strong second-half rally

POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Jones University lost to Pearl River Community College 67-56 Thursday night at Marvin R. White Coliseum. A 13-2 run to end the first quarter gave PRCC an early lead that Jones couldn’t overcome.

Jones outscored Pearl River by 14 in the second half but remained behind. The Wildcats, now 18-7 overall and 7-5 in the MACCC, were unable to close the gap. PRCC improved to 17-5 and 10-1 in conference play.

Jones led twice in the first quarter, 4-3 after a layup by Jakera Ducksworth and 9-7 following four straight points from Lamarah Cleaves. However, Jones was limited to one field goal in the final 5:33 of the period, and Pearl River led 20-11 after one quarter. The Wildcats’ lead grew to 44-19 at halftime.

Down 51-21 with 8:15 remaining in the third quarter, Jones scored 18 of the final 26 points of the period, including an eight-point streak from Sanyla Smith and Khalee Harrison. Smith hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 17 early in the fourth quarter. Jones outscored PRCC 17-8 in the final period but fell short, trailing by 11 at the final buzzer.

Larissa Hubbard posted her eighth double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Ducksworth added 13 points and nine rebounds, while Smith finished with 11 points. Harrison contributed eight points. Pearl River shot 50% from the field compared to 36% for Jones. The teams combined to go 6-for-40 from three-point range. Jahanna Wilson led the Wildcats with 16 points in double figures.

Source: Original Article