SAVANNAH, Ga. --- Mykala Jones gained possession of the ball, got fouled and confidently jogged her way to the foul line.

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The senior hit two free throws with 14.7 seconds remaining to cap off a string of clutch plays on both sides of the floor as the Laney girls survived to beat Morgan County, 71-67, in the quarterfinals of the Class AA state tournament Saturday night at Savannah State.

"I knew I had to knock them down," Jones said.

Jones, who hit 9 of 10 free-throw attempts on her way to 13 points, secured the victory after a back-and-forth contest.

Laney (29-1), who faces Buford at 7 p.m. Thursday, never led by more than five points in the second half.

DeKoya Mack got into a rhythm for the Lady Wildcats, hitting three of her four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Her first 3 opened Laney's scoring in the fourth and her next two extended leads.

After capping off a 7-0 run with a 3 to give her team a 59-55 lead, Mack's last 3-pointer pushed her team's advantage to 67-62.

Laney coach Otis Smart said whenever he thought he had an opportunity to sit down with the lead, the Lady Bulldogs (23-7) would answer with a score.

Only four players scored for Morgan County, but three had at least 19 points, with Andrea Benford leading the way with her game-high 23 points.

Teammate Sade Weaver had 22 points and Valencia Hawkins chipped in 19 points.

In the closing minutes, Hawkins had a pair of jumpers after a Mack 3-pointer -- to continue Morgan County's trend of answering a Laney basket with one of its own.

However, Jermeka Gibson, who finished with a team-high 14 points for Laney, hit a jumper and Ciara Morris came down with huge rebounds to seal the win.

Morris also scored during Laney's 12-0 first-quarter run.

The spurt gave the Lady Wildcats the largest lead at eight.

In the third quarter, Benford matched Laney's Chelsea Maultsby with four field goals as each of her baskets led to a lead change .

Weaver's 3-pointer helped put the Lady Wildcats down two points entering the fourth, but Mack made big plays late to finish off the win.

"All of them played well," said Smart, who had praise for both squads. "We were just tested tonight."