Covington, Gandy help Lady Jackets rally for a victory at Joe Horne Classic
COLUMBUS – It’s hard to hold down Jariyah Covington and Tabreea Gandy forever.
The two seniors guards for the Starkville Lady Yellowjackets may miss a shot or two throughout the course of the game, but they are also capable of carrying their team.
That’s what happened on Saturday at the Joe Horne Christmas Classic against Minor, Alabama.
Covington scored 22 points and Gandy, the Most Valuable Player of game, added 18 as the Lady Jackets won a 57-42 decision in a game where they struggled early.
Starkville only had one field goal in the first quarter, a 3-pointer by Gandy, and fell behind 9-4 after the first 8 minutes.
At that point, coach Kristie Williams told her Lady Jackets that they needed to make a decision.
“I told them you either want it or give it away to Minor,” Williams said. “It’s one of those things where they have to execute and when you don’t execute, you score only four points in a quarter. It’s the determination factor and you can’t coach determination and the want to.”
Covington took that message to heart and exploded offensively in the second quarter with four 3-point field goals and 16 points.
She hit a pair of 3-pointers to open the quarter to put SHS on top 10-9 with 6:35 remaining until halftime. The Lady Jackets did not trail again.
After seeing how her team was struggling to make shots, Covington remembered how it was against Columbus at home and felt she needed to step up.
“I just knew in my mind that I had to take my time and at least try to make shots,” Covington
| Page 5C