( Rome, Georgia) – Down 21 points with just 13 minutes left to play, the Lady Cats of Georgia Northwestern would have to make their largest comeback in school history to best their region rival for the first time in two years.
And that’s exactly what they did.

The Lady Cats would outscore West Georgia Tech 41-16 in the final 13 minutes of play to shock the Lady Golden Knights, 82-78, at the Winthrop-King Center in Rome, Georgia.

Leading Georgia Northwestern (9-8, 3-0) with monster numbers was freshman Odessa Person (Lineville, AL) with 17 points and 21 rebounds in the historic win over West Georgia (5-13, 1-1). “Dee gets more and more consistent each week,” said Georgia Northwestern Women’s Head Basketball Coach Jim Williams. “She has become our most consistent player. She has turned playing down low into and art and is proud of it. I mean, sometimes she pays the price, though.”

Three-pointers and paint work would help the NJCAA Region XVII defending champions claw their way back into the game. A Sierra Smith (Armuchee, GA) three with four minutes to play would whittle things down to a six-point deficit. Back-to-back hard-fought points in the paint from Terika Mostella (Cartersville, GA) would make it a two-point game, 76-74, with 2:25 to play.

“Terika is growing up as a ball player,” said Williams. “Sometimes she gets rattled as a ball player. Tonight though, we are all very proud of our first year player.”

The difference maker in the game would come with just 1:40 left to play as sophomore all-region guard Emily Cole (Adairsville, GA) would slice across the front court from wing to wing finally finding a hole to drive through for the tying basket, 76-all.

But the Lady Cats would need more from their all-region standout as it would be Cole who would take a Kiarra Parks (Cleveland, TN) outlet pass and turn it into a three-pointer and give her Cats a three-point lead, 79-76. “Kiarra had two looks. Emily on one wing and another outlet as well,” said Williams. “Smart pass and solid shot from our guards on that one.”

Before Tuesday’s win, the Lady Cats had not beat West Georgia Tech since the conference post-season tournament in February of 2011. West Georgia Tech was ineligible for post-season play in 2012. The rematch between these two will take place in just three weeks on February 8 in LaGrange, Georgia.

Georgia Northwestern hits the road Friday night for their next action in NJCAA Region XVII play as they face-off with Southern Crescent Tech in Griffin, Georgia.

Georgia Northwestern competes in the NJCAA Region XVII. The post-season region tournament will be held February 21-24 at Middle Georgia Tech in Warner-Robbins, Georgia with a NJCAA National Tournament spot on the line. Georgia Northwestern is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia.

Georgia Northwestern (82) – Parks 8, Alana Jones 10, Cole 7, Alyssa Nichelson 13, Smith 8, Price 9, Terika Mostella 10, Odessa Person 17.

West Georgia Tech (78) – Marshall 9, Hollins 4, Sharika Penneman 23, Mann 8, Camp, Romick, Sharon Forte 13, J. Penneman 2, Williams 6, Victoria Conner 13.

Halftime Score: 45-34, West Georgia Tech.