Booneville, Miss. – Teresa Mays picked up the pace when her Northeast Mississippi Community College teammates needed her the most on Monday night.
Mays found a groove and dropped in a career-high 26 points to aid the Lady Tigers in their come-from-behind attempt. But Jackson State (Tenn.) Community College matched each Northeast shot and won 91-88 inside Bonner Arnold Coliseum.
The freshman from Oakland, Tenn., surpassed her previous collegiate best by nine after scoring 17 on December 9 at Northwest Mississippi Community College.
Mays also set new high marks in minutes played (38), rebounds (7) and blocks (2) in her tenth straight start.
"I tried my best just to let the game come to me," she said. "I really feel confident with the three because I'm a shooter, but I was getting 15 footers and that's what I've been practicing so I kept on hitting them."
Four baskets in a row by the combination of Daisha Williams and Mays got Northeast (5-8) to within one point at 47-46 with 28 seconds until the halftime horn.
Victoria Douglas stole the momentum back from the Lady Tigers, though, with a trey just before the clock expired to send Jackson State to the locker room ahead 50-46.
The Lady Generals pushed their advantage to as big as eight with 13:33 remaining after a Samantha Fernandez make, but Northeast fought back to tie the matchup on four separate occasions over the final 4 minutes, 30 seconds.
Williams brought the game to a stalemate the first time with a three-pointer, then with 1:14 to play an Antionette Riddle field goal knotted the score at 86-86.
Jackson State (6-8) got four quick points from Douglas before a Riddle layup cut the Lady Tigers' deficit to 90-88.
Following a Northeast timeout and foul, Fernandez missed the front end of a one-plus-one opportunity to give the Lady Tigers a chance. However, a Williams attempt from behind the arc that would have been the go-ahead basket rimmed out to let the Lady Generals hold on for the victory.
"We had a big win last Thursday and didn't emotionally respond tonight," said Northeast head coach Brian Alexander. "They started making shots like all good teams if you let them get going and we didn't respond."
The trio of Nikki Cole, Paige Hicks and Douglas accounted for all but 15 of Jackson State's total points. Douglas led the way with a game-high 32 points to go with 13 rebounds.
Hicks scored 24 while Cole tallied her team's second double-double with 20 points and 17 boards. The Lady Generals shot 52.8 percent from the floor, the most of any opponent visiting Booneville during this campaign.
Northeast had a hot hand as well and set new season-bests in field goal percentage (47.4) and three-point percentage (42.9). Four other Lady Tigers joined Mays in double digits, including Aushiana Ivy with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Kiki Gwyn recorded her second double-double in a row against Jackson State with 11 points and 10 assists. The Corinth product had 11 points and 10 rebounds at Jackson, Tenn., on December 12.
Gwyn topped a Lady Tiger squad that had a season-high 20 assists. Riddle added four and Williams dished out three.
Thirteen steals and six blocked shots were also yearly-bests for Northeast while 88 points is the most scored since matching that number in an overtime win against Northwest on December 3, 2012.
Tupelo's Riddle and Williams, a Columbus High School alumnus, both notched 11 points, respectively, to round out the Lady Tigers' scoring.
"There were some good performances out there," Alexander said. "Overall, we wanted more energy and we've got to find that balance to get it done."
Northeast takes to the road for the initial time in 2014 on Thursday, January 16 with a trip to East Mississippi Community College. Ladies tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. with men's action to follow in Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division play at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.