Booneville, Miss. - Daisha Williams knew the importance of Northeast Mississippi Community College's final possession of regulation on Monday night and capitalized in a clutch situation.
Williams drained a three-point basket that sent the Lady Tigers' opening contest of the 2014-15 campaign to overtime. The hosts used that momentum to defeat Southwest Mississippi Community College 102-98 in two extra periods as part of the 13th Northeast Tipoff Classic at Bonner Arnold Coliseum.
The 5-8 standout from Columbus took an out-of-bounds pass in the far corner from fellow sophomore Jasmine Allen with only eleven seconds remaining in the second half. Williams immediately shot the basketball and was nothing but net on the attempt to tie the matchup at 73-73.
"To me, that was a really big play. I had to do what I had to do for us to win the ballgame," said Williams. "This says that we will not give up. I'd like to give credit to my coaches and my teammates for not giving up."
The Lady Bears did have enough time left on the clock to race down the court for one last effort. But Talisa Sherman's jumper rimmed out and the horn sounded to extend the game for five more minutes.
Southwest (0-1) had the lead for a majority of the initial overtime period. The Lady Bears held the advantage as late as the 1:20 mark following an Eyonna Wolfe free throw and a make by Erica Newsome.
Williams was again the savior for the Lady Tigers with under one minute to play. She grabbed an offensive rebound off a miss by Alivia Hughes and bounced the put back off the glass to bring the contest into an 85-85 deadlock.
Northeast put the matchup out of reach quickly in the second overtime with a 10-0 run to start the quarter. Bridgejae Patterson gave the Lady Tigers the lead for good with a layup less than 20 seconds into the quarter.
Williams recorded another critical sequence for Northeast (1-0) halfway through the added session. She completed an old-fashioned three-point play to send the nice home crowd into a frenzy and put the Lady Tigers ahead 91-85.
Southwest crept back into the matchup with a pair of Gabriella Cortez buckets. However, Dashiyah Agnew notched seven of an incredible 21 points in her Northeast debut with fewer than two minutes to go in the game to seal the victory over the Lady Bears.
Booneville's Agnew added an outstanding five charges taken during the Lady Tigers' triumph against a unit that qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tournament in Salina, Kan., one year ago.
"You have to sacrifice yourself in order to win big games," Agnew said. "That what I did for my teammates. I'm just glad we got outta here with a win."
Four Northeast athletes joined Agnew in double figures, including returning Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) All-State standout Aushiana Ivy. She garnered her seventh career double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Clinton natives Harper Newell and Hughes were solid in their inaugural appearances in a Lady Tiger uniform. The pair tallied 18 and 11 points, respectively, while Williams had 14 points to round out a Northeast squad that shot 43 percent from the floor.
"Everyone on the team came to play tonight and did what we asked them to do," said Lady Tigers headman Brian Alexander. "I'm really pleased with the way we fought. We challenged our girls to play their assignments and the ball found the right places for us as the game went on."
Northeast's pressure made Southwest commit 38 turnovers. It was the most by an opponent of the Lady Tigers since they forced 33 miscues in a victory versus Coahoma Community College last January.
Talisa Sherman had a double-double for the Lady Bears with 18 points and 10 assists. Three others registered double digits in points, including Teshia Jones' team-best 22.
(M) Northeast 88, Southwest 72
Al Azulphar was dominant in his first outing as a sophomore for the Tigers. He accounted for a solid stat line of 14 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and one assist.
Perhaps more importantly, however, is that Azulphar and his fellow post players held the Bears' forwards and centers to only 29 points in the entire contest. Southwest was also contained to eight points from its bench.
"I thought Al was really the difference in the game," Northeast head coach Cord Wright said. "He established himself and did a tremendous job setting the tone. He got them in foul trouble and that was big for us in the second half."
The Bears (0-1) actually built an early advantage of 19-10 with 13:05 on the scoreboard in the first half using treys by Jaylen Moore and LeDerrius Simmons.
But the Tigers stormed back using a phenomenal surge of 21 straight points over nearly eight minutes. Dexter Stafford's lay in that was assisted by Dimario Jackson put Northeast up for the initial occasion since the opening seconds of the matchup at 27-26.
The Corinth duo of Raheem Sorrell and Desmin Harris capped the sensational run by the Tigers. Sorrell posted his inaugural collegiate block on one end of the floor and then sprinted to make a basket on the other side.
Harris then knocked down a shot from beyond the arc to give Northeast a 41-26 lead with 2:46 at the break. He kept the Tigers in front by double digits at halftime as well with a trey moments before the clock expired to make the score 46-34.
Southwest dwindles its deficit to as close as 80-70 with 2:07 remaining, but Northeast (1-0) logged eight of the final 10 points in the contest to pull away. Harris and Stafford each had three-point plays down the stretch.
Jackson paced the Tigers with 24 points, four boards and three assists. It was the second highest individual point total in the fantastic career of Jackson, who was named MACJC All-State during the previous campaign as a freshman.
"At the beginning of the game, we had a stretch where I think we were just a little nervous," said Jackson. "But we kept our composure and kept fighting and got a big lead on a very good team."
Stafford had a personal best 13 points in Northeast's triumph over its regional foe. Harris and Sorrell also managed 12 points apiece for the Tigers.
Xavion Dillon accumulated a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Bears while Moore had a game-high 30 points as well.
It was the first time in two years that Northeast swept its initial doubleheader of the campaign. The Lady Tigers and Tigers last did so with a pair of victories in the City of Hospitality against East Central Community College in November 2012.
The total of 88 points scored by the Tigers was also the third most in the Wright era. Northeast racked up 96 points in a win over Dyersburg State (Tenn.) Community College last season.
"I thought we played well tonight," Wright said. "Everybody contributed whether you played three minutes or 32 minutes. That's what it's going to be like for us throughout the year. I think I've got a bunch of guys that I can turn to."