Lady Indians down Shelton State as Gray wins 600th

Lady Indians down Shelton State as Gray wins 600th
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com

FULTON, MS – Sophomores Jeronia Allen (Minden, LA), Jayla Chills (Ripley), and Kaelin Kneeland (Olive Branch) made sure there would be no doubt in Coach Nanci Gray earning her 600th career win in the Lady Indians' 84-66 win over Shelton State on Thursday.

"It is a great milestone," said Coach Gray. "God has really blessed me so much with great players and great assistant coaches over all the years I've been coaching. I'm proud of the effort the girls gave tonight to be able to pick up this win over a very good Shelton program."

VIDEO: Coach Gray celebrates career win 600 after the Lady Indians' victory

Allen and Chills scored a game-high 19 points while Kneeland recorded her second double-double of the season scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in the victory.

"Coach Gray really means a lot to us," said Allen. "We wanted to play hard and win for her to be able to get her 600th win against a really good Shelton team."

Allen grabbed 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.

ICC (2-0, 0-0 MACJC North) jumped out to a 30-19 lead at the 6:04 mark of the first half when Ricki Hooker (Olive Branch) found Allen for a jumper, but the Lady Buccaneers closed the half on a 13-6 run to cut the Lady Indians' lead to 36-32 at the break.

Hooker had 5 assists and 2 steals on the night.

Shelton State (2-1) made it a 36-35 game early in the second half before the Lady Indians went on a 16-7 run to take a 10-point advantage, 52-42, with 12:48 left in the game.

"I really felt like we did a much better job crashing the boards to limit their second shot opportunities while creating scoring opportunities through our defense in the second half," said Gray.

Lanikki McMillian (Pontotoc) hit a jumper with 6:09 left to play to give the Lady Indians a 70-50 lead before cruising to the 18-point victory.

Alontra Tucker (Lamar) provided a spark off the bench with 9 points, 4 steals, 3 assists, and a blocked shot.

"Alontra came off the bench to give us a spark when we needed it the most," said Gray. "She did a great job in the open flooring both scoring and creating scoring opportunities for her teams."

McMillian finished the night with 8 points, Ieysha Mays (Mound Bayou) had 6, Erika Toney (Horn Lake) 6, Alison Childs (Calhoun City) 3, and Raylin Starks (Cordova, TN) chipped in 2 points in the victory.

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