HATTIESBURG – Mary Irving’s Natchez High Lady Bulldogs just keep rolling onward, and at this rate, they should have a full head of steam by the time they get back into division play in 2002.

The Lady Bulldogs remained undefeated in the Hattiesburg Holiday Tournament with a 73-58 win over the Laurel Lady Hurricanes Friday night at the Hattiesburg High gym.

Karmethia Mazique scored a game-high 20 points and Crystal L. Brown added 18 points as the Lady Bulldogs improved to 16-2 on the season.

Angel Taylor chipped in with 13 points and Gloria Lewis had nine points.

Natchez High is now to 2-0 in a tournament which guarantees each team three games.

The Lady Bulldogs go up against Kossuth at 8 a.m. today in a chance to have the best finish in the field.

Laurel hung tough with the Lady Bulldogs in the first quarter and trailed by only two, 14-12, at the end of the quarter.

Natchez High then got its offense clicking in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Hurricanes 20-15 to take a 34-27 halftime lead.

&uot;It was touch and go the first half,&uot; said Lady Bulldogs assistant coach Sue Johnson. &uot;They have some pretty good shooters.&uot;

Not only did Natchez High’s offense get going, but so did its defense in the middle two quarters.

The Lady Bulldogs put the game out of reach by outscoring Laurel 20-13 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 14 points going into the fourth quarter.

&uot;We started playing better defense in the second and third quarters,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;We used our defense a little.&uot;

Latoya Anderson led the Lady Hurricanes with 17 points. Sharia Gully added 16 points.

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Hattiesburg Holiday Tournament

Varsity Girls

Natchez 73, Laurel 58

NHS 14 20 20 19 73

LHS 12 15 13 18 58

Natchez: Karmethia Mazique – 20; Crystal L. Brown – 18; Angel Taylor – 13; Gloria Lewis – 9; Quantrita Marsaw – 5; Shareka Hargrave – 5; Crystal D. Brown – 2; Rosetta Ikard – 1

Laurel: Latoya Anderson – 17; Sharia Gully – 16; Sharon Blankenship – 14; Courtney Lindsey – 4; Latina Evans – 3; Gina Santoyo – 2; Regina Johnikin – 1; Nikita Smith – 1

Natchez – 16-2 overall; next – vs. Kossuth, 8 a.m. today