By Jay Neal
sports@jacksonvilleprogress.com
While a home loss is never a good thing, Jacksonville College women’s head basketball coach, Lynn Nabi, believes there are positives that will surface from his team’s 85-81 loss to the Houston Crossover Saturday night at the Curtis Carroll Fieldhouse.
The defeat ended a three-game Lady Jag winning streak as the Purple and White (3-4) prepare for their Region XIV opener tonight (5:30) at Angelina College.
“I think it helps when we had to come out and play hard in a game that we thought we wouldn’t have to play that hard in,” Nabi said. “I hope we can learn some lessons about keeping our composure at the end of the game and in doing a better job of keeping our poise. I didn’t think we were very poised out there late, but take nothing away from the Houston Crossover, they are good defensively and they have some players that can score.”
The Houston Crossover is a team comprised of mostly former NCAA Division I players according their head coach Herb Williams.
Williams stated four of his starters Saturday previously played for the University of Arizona, University of West Virginia, Fresno State University and Texas Southern University.
JC trailed 44-40 at the halfway point but managed to tie the game with 13:28 showing on the scoreboard when Cassandra Moody sank a four-foot bank shot down low on an assist from Jamie Johnson that evened things up at 60.
Moody finished the night with 12 points, all coming in the second half.
The Lady Jags took their biggest lead of the half with 9:50 to go when, once again, Moody hit from down in the low paint, capping a 10-4 JC spurt that saw the Lady Jags move in front of the Houston Crossover, 70-64. But the visitors refused to back down as Jay Lewis nailed a trey with 5:30 left in the game that gave the Crossover the lead, 74-72 — a lead they would not surrender again.
Lewis led the Crossover with 22 points, including four baskets from beyond the arc.
After falling behind by as many as seven points in the closing minutes, JC had one last run left in their tank and were even able to close the gap to four when Rayvin Miller drained a triple from the top of the key with five ticks left.
Miller had a lights out night from the field, going 9-for-9 on two-pointers and 3-of-6 on attempts from long distance to lead all scorers with 27 points.
Precious Herrin (16) and Jamie Johnson (11) also hit for double figures for JC.
Tiesha Martin was the top rebounder for the Lady Jaguars, snagging 10 balls off the glass.
Houston Crossover 85 Lady Jaguars 81
1 2 Tot.
HC 44 41 85
JC 40 41 81
HC — Carolyn Hopkins, 12; Brittany White, 16; Alicia Williams, 8; Jay Lewis, 22; Mirenda Wilson, 12; Tanisha Barefield, 15.
JC — Rayvin Miller, 27; Jasmine Jackson, 3; Amanda Mangan, 2; Jamie Johnson, 11; Precious Herrin, 16; Emily Fouse, 4; Tiesha Martin, 6; Cassandra Moody, 12.
Three-point goals — HC- White (2), Lewis (4), Wilson (2), Barefield (3); JC- Miller (3), Jackson.
Records — J (3-4); Houston Crossover (unavailable)
Next game — Jacksonville College at Angelina College, 5:30 p.m. tonight.
