by Travis Connelley
For most of the season, the Lady Bears have had one individual stand out as far as being a big-time contributor in a win. On Thursday night that individual was Veronica Williams.
The freshman guard from Philadelphia was locked in from long distance, nailing 8-of-9 3-pointers and finishing with a game-high 26 points, helping Southwest defeat Itawamba 74-59.
“I think that it was great to get a new career high tonight especially after a three-game slump,” she said. “I knew that I was going to have a good game and last night I told myself that I was going to have a good game.”
Her big night helped the Lady Bears (15-8, 6-5 MACCC) secure their fourth-consecutive win sixth in the last seven contests.
Both teams were evenly matched through nearly all of the first quarter. With under a minute to go, Williams splashed-in her second 3-pointer giving the Southwest an 18-15 advantage heading into the second quarter.
Mookie Lampley got into the act with a 3 of her own to open the second quarter before Williams made another, quickly pushing the Lady Bear lead to nine at 24-15.
But the Lady Indians would not go away. Other than a brief :18 stretch, they kept the Southwest lead at single digits and reduced it down to just five at the half.
Not long into the third, their tenacity paid off as the Lady Bears watched their lead dwindle down to one before a basket gave Itawamba its first lead since the opening quarter.
But the deficit did not last long for Southwest. A Courtney Bradford make, followed by another 3-pointer from Williams helped the Lady Bears begin to pull away.
In addition to the offense, the Southwest defense also shined giving Itawamba fits for most of the evening.
Leading 52-44 entering the fourth quarter, Williams once again made her presence known with a pair of 3-pointers within the first minute of the period. Shots continued to drop for the Lady Bears as they watched their lead not only grow to double-digits but also to as many as 18 points at 73-55 with 4:37 to go.
From there, the Lady Bears maintained their superb play, running out the clock and sealing the win.
After the game Southwest head coach Brent Harris said that he was proud of the way his team played, especially Williams.
“I am proud that we were able to keep playing and play through some things,” he said. “Veronica (Williams) obviously got hot and I would say that we only missed her one time in transition. I’m proud of my team for rallying behind her. They were really happy for her after the game. We did a good job of finding the hot hand.”
