Lady Bengals to face Pearl River in opening Region 23 Tournament contest
The LSU Eunice women's basketball team now knows how their postseason road will begin after the NJCAA Region 23 Women's Basketball Tournament bracket was released late Thursday night.
The Lady Bengals, who earned the Miss-Lou Conference's automatic berth following their road win on Wednesday night, will take on Pearl River Community College in the final game of the opening day's play in an 8 p.m. tipoff on Wednesday night.
The matchup will be the first between LSU Eunice,(26-3 overall) and Pearl River (17-6 overall) this season.
Pearl River enters the tournament coming off a 74-71 semi-final loss to eventual Mississippi State Champion Jones County Junior College in the Mississippi State Tournament. Pearl River won their opening round game in the state tournament in comeback fashion with a 63-52 victory.
Pearl River enters Wednesday's matchup with losses in three of their last five games, including their final two regular season contests and the loss against Jones County.
On the year, Pearl River is averaging 62.1 points per game on 38.5 percent shooting from the floor, with a 21.2 percentage from three point range and are a 62.6 percent shooting team from the free throw line.
They have three players averaging in double figures scoring, with Shanta Echols leading the team with a 13.4 points per game average, while Kalisha Washington and Deandra Darjean each are averaging 12.2 points per game.
Echols leads the team in rebounding, averaging 10.0 rebounds per game, while Darjean leads the team with an average of 3.4 assists per contest.
The Lady Bengals head into the regional tournament averaging 76.4 points per game while shooting 45.8 percent from the floor. They tally three-point shots at a 31.8 percent clip and are 61.3 percent free throw shooters as a team.
Three players average double-digit scoring, led by Reagan Maricle's 13.3 points per game average. Meghan Cross averages 13.1 points per game and Brooke Richard is averaging 10.4 points per game.
Cross leads LSU Eunice in rebounding, averaging 7.4 rebounds per contest, while Maricle is averaging 5.8 assists per game.
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The full 2014 Region 23 Tournament Bracket can be seen here.
