CLARKSDALE—The CCC women's basketball team came into Thursday night's matchup with something to prove. After suffering a 28-point loss in their season opener to East Central CC, the Lady Tigers were looking to find the right footing and prove that they can make this season more successful that the last.

They did not disappoint, crushing the Hinds-Utica Lady Bulldogs by a final of 79-53. The Lady Tigers were led by Erica Collins, who poured in 18 while grabbing 8 boards, and Josta Totten, who added 16 points of her own to aid in the rout.

CCC went on an early tear, using sharp free throw shooting to build an early 13-5 lead. The team shot 83% from the line in the first half, a significant improvement from the season opener, in which they went just 17 of 34 from the charity stripe. The Lady Tigers went to the locker rooms with a 7-point lead and then blew the game open by outscoring Hinds 47-28 in the second half.

Collins played just 26 minutes in the game, but when she was on the floor, she had her way down low on both the offensive and defensive ends. She went 7 of 14 from the field and supplemented her 18 points and 8 rebounds with 5 steals.

Totten finished with 6 assists, but it was Amber Sisk who finished as the Lady Tigers' leader in the assists department. The shooting guard dished out 7 assists to go along with 3 steals. Gabrielle Gilbert led the team in minutes with 35. She scored 13 points and racked up 4 assists.

The Tiger basketball teams now head to Shreveport for the Southern Classic. The Lady Tigers will play their first game of the tournament on Friday evening at 6 pm. The game will be broadcast live on coahomasports.com.