After making the Mississippi Association of Community/Junior Colleges (MACJC) State Tournament as the three seed from the North Division and claiming two victories en route to the championship game, the Northeast Mississippi Community College Lady Tigers came up short of the title, dropping a 64-46 decision to the Copiah-Lincoln Lady Wolves.
However, Northeast (14-11) clinched a berth in the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) Region XXIII Tournament at Mississippi College in Clinton next week.
"I am proud of every member of our organization," Lady Tiger head coach Brian Alexander said. "They represented Northeast in a first-class manner all week at the MACJC State Tourney.
"Congratulations to Copiah-Lincoln; they made the plays necessary to win the game. Our team will respond and be prepared for next week's Region XXIII Tournament."
Northeast hit the South's top seed early scoring the first six points of the contest and holding Copiah-Lincoln without a point until the 15:54 mark of the first half.
After opening up with six points, the Lady Tigers struggled from the floor only knocking down four field goals for the rest of the half as Copiah-Lincoln recaptured the lead on a pair of free throws by T'Keya Moore at 11-10.
Northeast was not alone in its cold shooting from the floor.
Alexander's Lady Tigers could only find the range on 6-of-20 shots from the field in the first half while Coach Gwen Young's Lady Wolves hit 7-of-30 field goal attempts in the first half.
Combined the two teams connected on just 13-of-50 shots – 26 percent – in the first half.
Copiah-Lincoln (23-3), which claimed its second state championship in the last three years, opened up a 28-20 lead at the half thanks to the Lady Wolves showing at the free throw line.
Young's Lady Wolves knocked down 12-of-17 shots from the charity stripe while the Lady Tigers were limited to just six points on 11 attempts from the line in the first 20 minutes.
Not to be outdone, Northeast would not go quietly.
Belmont's Angelia Allen spearheaded a run coming out of intermission that pulled the Lady Tigers to within a bucket with 13:41 left to play in the game.
Allen connected on the second part of a two-shot trip to the free throw line on a pair of occasions and then found the range on a bucket cutting the Lady Wolves' lead to 29-24.
Katie Garvin's jumper made it a one-possession game at 29-26 and Allen added another free throw for a 29-27 contest with less than 14 minutes to play.
Allen's freebie got Northeast as close as it would get in the state championship contest but after Copiah-Lincoln pushed the lead back to 40-31 with 9:44 left in the game, Northeast rallied one last time.
After Moore gave the Lady Wolves' a nine-point advantage 46-37, Talisa Boyd and LaTonya Gadison keyed the Lady Tigers with six straight points.
Boyd made her stand at the charity stripe and Gadison's old-fashioned three-point play cut the game to 46-43.
Boyd got the run going with a free throw and then went perfect from the line a few moments later cutting the game to 46-40.
Gadison sliced the Lady Wolf lead in half with her hoop and harm with 5:25 left in the game that capped the 6-0 run by the Lady Tigers.
However, that would be as close as Northeast would come as Copiah-Lincoln answered with a 9-2 run that pushed the game to 55-45 with 3:04 and the Lady Wolves ended the affair on a 9-1 run for the final score.
For Northeast, Gadison was the only player in double figures with 14 points.
Antoinette Riddle, Allen, and Boyd had seven rebounds each.
Northeast will now play in the NJCAA Region XXIII Tournament next week on the campus of Mississippi College in Clinton with the winner of the weeklong tournament advancing to the NJCAA National Championships in Salina, Kansas March 18-23.