UTICA – The Southwest Lady Bears returned to the win column Thursday, ending a three-game losing skid, as they overwhelmed the Hinds Lady Bulldogs, 66-45 in Utica.

With the win, the Lady Bears moved to 16-5 overall and 8-4 in division. Hinds dropped to 0-21 overall and 0-12 in the South.

In the men’s contest. the Southwest Bears saw that lead go by the wayside in the last 3:22 of the half as they dropped a tough 81-78 decision to the Hinds Bulldogs.

Despite the loss, the Bears remain in fourth place in the MACJC’s South Division, at 6-6, as they seek a spot in the upcoming state playoffs. They are 12-9 overall. Hinds moved to 7-14 and 4-8.

Southwest will close out the home portion of their schedule, and will honor their sophomore players, when the host East Central on Monday. Tipoff is at 5:30 for the Women, followed by the men’s game.

Southwest 66, Hinds 45 

Sharlandria Winston fired in a three-pointer to give the host Lady Bulldogs an early 3-0 lead. After that, it was all Southwest. Starting with a layup from Elayne Robinson and ending with a pair of Dimaya McCullough free throws, the Lady Bears went on a 25-0 scoring explosion to take a 25-3 lead with 8:13 to play in the half.

The teams traded baskets throughout the remainder of the half before Talisa Sherman hit a jumper with 0:24 on the clock that gave the Lady Bears a 30-11 halftime advantage.

The second half was more of the same for Southwest. Two Fredrikah Wilson free throws put the Lady Bears on top 44-17 with 13:56 to go. Sherman then put in two charity shots with 8:11 left to give them a 54-23 lead and went on to claim a 21-point victory.

April Levy and Sherman led the Southwest attack with 17 and 11 points, respectively.

Hinds was led by Latorya Richmond’s 12 points.

Hinds 81, Southwest 78 

Back to back buckets from Chris Jones and Corey Williams gave the Bears an early 4-0 advantage over Hinds. After two free throws from Twymond Howard and Christian Robbins’s jumper gave the Bears their biggest lead of the night, 20-12, with 9:52 on the clock.

Hinds managed to fight back as they slowly but surely began found their range and outscoring the Bears 18-9 to take their lead of the night, 30-29, with 3:22 to play in the half. A Jaylen Moore jumper with 2:29 on the clock gave the Bears a 31-30 last lead, of the night, before the Bulldogs scored eight of the last 11 points of the half to take a 38-24 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, a Howard jumper and Corey Williams’ three-pointer drew the Bears into a 39-39 tie with 18:09 left in the game. But, the Bulldogs went on 19-7 run to take a 58-46 lead with 11:16 left to play.

The Bears pulled back to within six points, 58-52, with 9:53 to play. But, the Bulldogs quickly answered and extended their lead back to 11 points, 65-54, with 7:18 left.

Not willing to go quietly, Southwest stayed close and drew to within three points twice. However, Hinds had an answer each time and the Bears were not able to overcome the deficit. Jones’ jumper with 0:01 left was too little, too late as the Bulldogs held on for the win.

Howard topped the Bears’ offense with 22 points in the game. Moore and Jones were also in double figures with 15 and 12 points, respectively. The Bears were nearly perfect at the free throw line, making 25 of 29.

LaDarrius Drain led Hinds with 22 points. The Bulldogs made 22 of 36 free throws.