Clarksdale, Miss. – After a couple of frustrating games in a row, Aushiana Ivy is back to herself in the Northeast Mississippi Community College post position.

Ivy notched her first double-double of the spring semester with 21 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, but Coahoma Community College was able to fend off the Lady Tigers for a 64-59 win on Thursday night at The Pinnacle.

The 5-10 freshman had been held below double digits in scoring for the past three contests but broke through for one of the best outings of her young career against Coahoma.

"I see myself playing like that every night," said Ivy. "I knew I had to step up a little bit. I felt like I did good."

Ivy helped Northeast build a lead in the first half. Two straight baskets after a Kiki Gwyn make gave the Lady Tigers a 10-7 advantage at the 12:53 mark.

Coahoma kept the contest within one possession for most of the period, but Northeast (6-15, 1-9) was able to jump ahead 36-28 just before the break after an old-fashioned three-point play by Ivy and a Jasmine Allen trey.

Amber Sisk drained a shot from behind the arc, though, to cut the visiting Lady Tigers' lead to 36-31 at halftime and in the process shift the momentum to Coahoma's bench.

Ariel Jones scored six straight points out of the intermission to cap a 9-0 run that put the Lady Tigers (2-17, 1-10) up 37-36 with 17:35 to play in the second.

Northeast quickly regained the advantage after Ivy brought down a defensive rebound and transitioned it to a basket on the other end of the court. The Lady Tigers maintained that lead and extended it to 51-46 after a pair of Ayana Ragin free throws.

But Coahoma used a late spurt of eight straight points, six of them by Jones, to leap ahead. By the time a Gwyn steal and bucket stopped the damage, the home squad held a two-possession lead that they would not relinquish.

"When you get an opportunity to get a team on the road you cannot make many mistakes," said Lady Tigers head coach Brian Alexander. "We made too many mistakes down the stretch."

Northeast won the turnover battle by a minus-12 margin and forced over 20 errors by their opponent for the second straight contest. The Lady Tigers also grabbed 10 steals for the third matchup in a row with Antionette Riddle and Gwyn recording three apiece.

Riddle joined Ivy in double figures with 20, including an 8 of 9 performance at the charity stripe. The Tupelo native has now scored 10-plus points in sixteen straight outings.

Jones topped Coahoma with 23 points and eight rebounds while Gabrielle Gilbert added 15. The Lady Tigers shot 47.9 percent on their own goals.

(M) Coahoma 79, Northeast 60

The guest Tigers looked solid in the opening portion of the game by scoring seven of the initial nine points. Cannon Edwards knocked down a trey and Tyre Mallard and Dimario Jackson added baskets in Northeast's strong start.

Cameron Shorty's put back off an offensive board gave the Tigers (4-17, 1-9) a 13-10 lead with 12:13 remaining until halftime.

But from that point, Coahoma used a 17-2 run to take control of the matchup. Trey Allen, Cameron Monix and AlDario Alexander each made three-pointers in that stretch as the Tigers hurdled ahead 27-15.

Edwards connected on another attempt from behind the arc late in the half, but Coahoma (9-12, 7-4) retained a 37-24 advantage as they entered the locker room.

A Markevius Brown field goal widened the Tigers' lead to 50-32 with 16:05 on the clock, but Northeast fought back into the contest on the backs of Jackson and Shorty.

Jackson was good from three-point range to kick off the rally. Shorty then connected on back-to-back baskets in the paint with assists from Darius Leach and Jackson.

Keldrick Lesley found a wide-open Leach for a trey that cut Northeast's deficit to 57-48 with just over 10 minutes to play.

Coahoma, though, would use another scoring spurt of 12-2 to put the matchup away. Darcee Carson had three makes in that span as the Tigers sealed the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division victory.

Shorty, a 6-5, 212 pound sophomore from Senatobia, concluded an impressive performance with eight points and a team-best seven rebounds.

"I'm just trying to be hungry for my team," he said. "I try to do the little things that count for us to try to get the win, but we came up short."

Jackson was the lone Northeast athlete to reach double digits with 17 points. The Brusly, La., native has now hit the 10-plus point mark in seven straight outings.

The Tigers had only eight turnovers the entire evening while Al Azulphar blocked three shots to extend his league-high number in that category to 56.

"I keep telling these guys this, and it sounds like a broken record, but we're going to keep fighting," said Northeast headman Cord Wright. "The character of these kids continues to stand out in my opinion as hard as they battle."

Three Coahoma players totaled double figures, headed by Billy Jackson's 18-point effort. Carson tallied 16 while Xavier Graves scored 12.

The Lady Tigers and Tigers return to Booneville on Monday, February 17 for the final games of the 2013-14 season inside Bonner Arnold Coliseum. Northeast's sophomores will be honored before their respective contests against Holmes Community College starting at 5:30 p.m.