CLINTON &045; A tooth was missing, but that’s about all.

Adriane Lee couldn’t step back and out of the picture with the MPSA Overall tournnament going on this week.

Less than a week ago, the 5-11 Simpson Academy senior center got a part of a tooth knocked out at the Mississippi Private School Association Class AA state tournament. Since then, her pain medication has her feeling a bit woozy.

However, nobody was picking on the Lady Cougars post while she operated at the MPSA Overall Tournament against Tensas Academy on Monday.

Lee was a handful for the Class A No. 4 Lady Chiefs as she scored 18 points in a 52-42, first-round Simpson victory at the A.E. Wood Coliseum on Mississippi College’s campus.

The Lady Cougars &045; AA’s No. 4 team &045; advanced to play AAA champion Pillow Academy at 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

&uot;I felt slow. I didn’t feel like I could go on defense,&uot; said Lee, who also pulled down nine rebounds in 27 minutes of work. &uot;It’s easy to turn around and shoot, but it’s much harder to keep your head up while you’re trying to guard somebody.&uot;

In only their second Overall appearance, Tensas (25-9) closed with a valiant effort in trying to recover from an eight-point, fourth-period deficit. However, a handful of the Lady Chiefs’ 22 turnovers came late and they proved costly.

Trailing 38-30, Tensas’ Lyndsay Hendrix

hit a flashing Whitney Alford with a nice feed over the top of the defense to cut the deficit to six with 5:24 to play.

Alford led Tensas with 13 points, as she went toe-to-toe with Lee all night.

&uot;We felt like we were still there,&uot; Lady Chiefs head coach Chuck Bauerle said. &uot;I thought about going to a zone defense at some point, but I thought our defense was good until the last minute or so.&uot;

Renewed with a second wind, Tensas sneaked in a quick inbounds pass seconds later as the Lady Cougars (25-11) were sluggish in getting downcourt.

Tabitha Howard unfurled a chest pass ahead to Hendrix, who drove the right side for a layup and was fouled in the process. She failed on the and-1, but the long rebound went to Alford who went to the line after she was hacked in the act.

Alford’s successful trip to the line made it a two-point game, 38-36, with 4:17 left to play.

&uot;As long as everybody else is playing slow that’s how we tend to play,&uot; Simpson head coach Amy McWilliams said. &uot;When somebody makes a run, we’ll pick it up. That’s not the way you want it to be. You want to put it on your opponent full steam.&uot;

As it had done answering an earlier Lady Chiefs’ run, Simpson went inside to Lee and the Lady Cougar’s other post, Malory McNulty, who finished with 10 points in only nine minutes of work.

McNulty powered up for a deuce and followed it up a possession later with a successful trip to the line, while Lee increased Simpson’s lead to eight, 44-36, with 3:37 left when she dropped in two more.

&uot;Our wings handle the ball well enough to get it inside to the posts,&uot; Lee said. &uot;I couldn’t do it without them. Maybe I still could score the points, but I wouldn’t be able to create as well. It’s not all me.&uot;

Tensas tried to mount another charge, getting within five on three occasions in the final minutes, but a dribble out-of-bounds, an errant throw and a jump ball turnover were all examples of Lady Chief breakdowns.

&uot;We were right there still in it in the fourth quarter, but we got a little impatient and had some turnovers at critical times,&uot; Bauerle said. &uot;(Simpson) shot their free throws real well down the stretch.&uot;

That the Lady Cougars certainly did, shooting nearly 70 percent (18 of 26) for the game.

Tensas watched the Lady Cougars reel off the first six points of the game before getting on the scoreboard. The Lady Chiefs remained without a field goal until Whitney Alford hit a turnaround jumper in the lane to cut the Simpson lead to four, 8-4, with 3:24 left in the first.

Lee was too much for Tensas and Alford to handle, scoring her team’s first four points and then adding four more in the second.

Lee muscled up, despite a Lady Chief defender smothering her, for her sixth points of the afternoon to give her teammates a 14-8 lead with 6:02 remaining before the break.

&uot;Sometimes it’s automatic when I’m on, but other times I couldn’t throw it in the ocean,&uot; Lee said. &uot;It all depends on what kind of game I’m having. If I don’t feel it, I shouldn’t even shoot it.&uot;

Simpson advances to play Pillow Academy, the Class AAA champion, on Wednesday. In other scores Monday, Central Private beat Claiborne, 60-47, and Copiah edged Presbyterian Christian, 33-29.