CLINTON — Playmaker Nikki Williams provided the wining freethrows and the Co-Lin Lady Wolves eluded the East Central CommunityCollege Lady Warriors 66-64 Tuesday in the NJCAA Region 23Tournament. Williams finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5steals as Co-Lin 26-3 advanced to tonight’s semifinals againstSouthern-Shreveport. Tipoff is 6 p.m. in Mississippi College’s A.E.Wood Coliseum.

In the other semifinals women’s game, Meridian plays JonesCounty. Meridian upset the defending state/regional championNortheast Lady Tigers 82-81 in overtime yesterday. Jones eliminatedMississippi Delta 89-77.

In the men’s semifinals today, Co-Lin plays Itawamba at noon andGulf Coast tackles Holmes at 2 p.m. Championship finals areThursday night, women at 6 and men at 8. The region championsadvance to the NJCAA National Tournaments in Kansas, women atSalina and men at Hutchinson.

The Lady Wolves played tenacious defense in thefinal minute of action. With the scoreboard showing a 64-64deadlock, East Central walked with the basketball. After Williamshit the 2 clutch free throws with 7 seconds left to play, Co-Linhad some fouls to burn.

“We played really tough on defense because we had some fouls togive,” said Co-Lin women’s coach Gwyn Young. That strategy upsetECCC’s game plan.

After Williams scored, Co-Lin still had two fouls to burn. TheLady Wolves fouled East Central twice and then blocked a shot atthe end.

“We did some good things offensively in the first half,” saidYoung. “Then we got out of our offense and made some mentalmistakes.”

East Central sacked a series of treys to close the deficit.

Co-Lin sophomore post Erica Trahan followed Williams with 10points and 9 rebounds. Dominque Whitfield grabbed 10 rebounds

“We had a couple (players) come off the bench and play well,”said Young. Alisha Mason scored 8 points. Shalenia Wilcher andKristen Ellis netted 7 apiece. Mason also had 7 rebounds.

Rebounding was a key to victory. Co-Lin commanded a 44-32advantage on the backboards.

East Central got a game-high 24 points from Valerie Harris, a5-8 sophomore guard from Lake. Andrea Dubose, a 5-7 sophomore fromDecatur, chipped in 15 points.

Co-Lin played Southern-Shreveport in the Southwest Tournamentthis season in late November. “They have a pretty good team with alot of speed and quickness,” said Young.

Young’s team beat Southern-Shreveport 80-55 on Nov. 21, inSouthwest’s Horace C. Holmes Gymnasium.