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Lady Vols advance to District tournament semifinals

CARTERVILLE - Five players scored in double figures to lead the John A. Logan College women's basketball team to a 79-41 win over Lincoln Trail in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA District P Tournament on Tuesday night.

The Lady Vols (22-8) jumped to an early 14-1 lead and never looked back. They led 38-20 at the half and 56-32 going into the fourth quarter.

Carbondale's Kaili Bacon and Destiny Cozart led Logan scorers with 14 points each, while Shaniya Whitsell had 12 and Alicia Hornbuckle and Miriah Donelson both had 10.

Whitsell led rebounders with 11 as the Lady Vols outrebounded Trail by a wide margin, 52-28.

"I think the girls came ready to play tonight. They know what's at stake. They're playing very well together right now," said JALC head coach Amanda Shelby.

The fourth-year head coach said players are "doing the little things" it takes to win in the postseason.

Logan has now won eight straight games and 11 of its last 12.

"We're definitely on a roll. It seems like we're getting four or five players in double figures every night out," Shelby said. "Shaniya had a big game rebounding the ball. Destiny had six assists. Kaili is playing her best basketball of the season. We have good team chemistry."

With the win, Logan advances to the District semifinals at 3 p.m. Thursday at Rend Lake College against Vincennes, an easy first-round winner over Southwestern Illinois Tuesday.

The Logan men's team opens District 16 Tournament play at 6 p.m. Wednesday against Lincoln Trail at Rend Lake College.

- John Homan contributed to this story