Posted: Jan 30, 2013
BOONEVILLE, Miss. –Home is where the heart is…
It is also where the Northeast Mississippi Community College women's basketball team has had the most luck against rival Itawamba Community College.
In its last three wins against the Lady Indians, two of the victories have come inside the friendly confines of Bonner Arnold Coliseum while the other came in the Mississippi Association of Community/Junior Colleges (MACJC) State Tournament in Wesson on February 28, 2007.
Northeast (9-6, 5-1 in North Division) will look to resurrect the home court advantage when the Lady Tigers host the Lady Indians (11-6, 5-1) in a pivotal North Division showdown on Thursday, January 31.
Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
Northeast and Itawamba are tied for the North Division lead at 5-1 in the standings while Northwest sits at 4-2 after dropping a 71-64 decision to Holmes on January 28.
Itawamba's only league loss this year came at the hands of Northwest 78-55 on January 19 – a team that Northeast beat on December 3 88-82 in overtime.
Northeast's last victory in the series against Itawamba came on February 8, 2010 as the Lady Tigers knocked off the Lady Indians 84-67 – thanks in part to a 50-point second half that saw four Lady
Tigers score in double digits.
Northeast's other win in the last 14 meetings was also at Bonner Arnold Coliseum on January 8, 2007 as the Lady Tigers dispatched the Lady Indians 86-68.
However, second-year head women's basketball coach Brian Alexander, a former Itawamba assistant coach, has started the home transformation already.
Alexander and crew are 6-1 at Bonner Arnold Coliseum this year and are 8-2 in their last 10 games inside the longtime Northeast arena.
Northeast's only setback at home this year came in a three-point loss to Gadsden State (Ala.) on November 19 (81-78) and the last time the Lady Tigers fell at Bonner Arnold Coliseum to a Mississippi-based team stretches back to a seven-point loss to East Mississippi (68-61) on February 9, 2012.
Itawamba and Northeast have faced off once before this season – November 29, 2012 – where the Lady Indians took an 80-55 victory over the Lady Tigers.
In that game, Northeast managed just 23 points in the second half after losing leading scorer Kay K Tate to a leg injury in the first half.
Northeast's loss to Itawamba also marked the last time the Lady Tigers dropped a division game.
Since the 25-point defeat, Northeast has ran off four straight North Division victories over Northwest
Mississippi (88-82), East Mississippi (54-42), Coahoma (69-47), Holmes (69-59) and Mississippi Delta (63-56).
With Tate recovering from the leg injury suffered against Itawamba in the first meeting, a trio of freshmen is had to pick up the slack for the Lady Tigers with Belmont's Angelia Allen leading the way with 12.1 points per game.
West Bolivar's LaTonya Gadison follows with 10.5 points per game while a pair of Lady Tigers is hovering at the 10 points per game mark.
Freshman Antionette Riddle (Tupelo) scores 9.6 points per game and Talisa Boyd from Natchitoches, Louisiana has 8.6 points per outing. Boyd and Gadison are also the team's leading rebounders with Boyd pulling down 6.2 rebounds per night and Gadison 4.5.
Thursday night's showdown with Itawamba will also serve as "Upward Basketball and Cheerleading" recognition
night for the college.
Participants in the area sports league will receive free admission to the games when entering Bonner Arnold Coliseum wearing either their player's uniform, cheerleading outfit or coaches' shirt.
Participants that attend the games will also be recognized at halftime of the men's game.
For those that cannot make it to Thursday's game against Itawamba, follow in-game highlights on Twitter at @NEMCC_Athletics.
For those that want to follow live-in game stats, Northeast provides a gamecast through Dakstats. The women's game will be broadcast on http://bit.ly/X8gy3Qby clicking the (((W))) next to the correct game on the schedule and the men's game, which tips off 20 minutes following the women's game will be broadcast at http://bit.ly/129L7Oa.