The Georgia Northwestern Lady Bobcats picked up two big wins in a span of less than 24 hours over the weekend, claiming a non-region win over Toccoa Falls in Rome on Friday before rallying past Middle Georgia Tech in a Region XVII game in Rossville on Saturday.

GNTC women 86, Toccoa Falls 71

Freshman guard Kiarra Parks led the way with 17 points in the win. Alyssa Nichelson, Sierra Smith, and Alana Jones had 16, 14, and 12 points, respectively. Jones added four steals while Smith went 4 of 8 from three-point land.

Sophomore post player Odessa Person continued her dominance on the boards, grabbing 17 more in the victory. She leads the region with nearly 13 rebounds a contest this season.

GNTC women 68, Middle Georgia Tech 66

A pair of free throws from freshman Mariah Price with 12 seconds remaining were the difference as the Lady Bobcats grabbed a share of the region title on Saturday. Emily Cole had 16 points to pace GNTC on the day.

With the win, the Lady Bobcats (13-10, 5-1) are in a first-place tie for the region crown with West Georgia Tech. With both teams splitting the regular season series, the tie will be broken by a coin flip on Sunday at Emory-Oxford College.

GNTC went just 7 of 31 from behind the arc against the Lady Titans (7-18, 2-4), but they hit enough to keep pace before Price could come through in the clutch from the free throw line.

Price would add 15 points in the win, while Person pulled down another 15 rebounds to go with her 12 points.

The NJCAA Region XVII Tournament will be held in Warner Robins on Feb. 22-24. The winner of the tournament earns the region’s automatic bid into the NJCAA Women’s National Basketball Tournament, which begins one week later.

The Lady Bobcats earned the spot last year, falling the first round to eventual national semifinalist, Montgomery College-Rockville of Maryland, 99-51.