Lady Roadrunners battle back but fall in Region 16 Tournament Championship

Sedalia, Mo. The sixth-ranked and top-seeded State Fair Community College (SFCC) Lady Roadrunners women's basketball team fell to the 18^th ranked and second-seeded Three Rivers College 74-62 in the Region 16 Tournament Championship game on Friday, March 13 inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center. The game featured two lead changes and three ties.

SFCC (28-2) trailed Three Rivers 16-13 at the end of a back-and-forth first quarter. Three Rivers extended their advantage to 39-28 at halftime.

SFCC continued to battle. The Lady Roadrunners outscored Three Rivers 17-15 in the third quarter to trim the deficit to 54-45 at the end of the quarter.

SFCC continued to chip away at the deficit. SFCC cut the deficit to five points with one minute and 50 seconds remaining after a pair of made free throws from freshman guard Kamaree Pollard of Mt. Vernon, Ill. to make the score 65-60.

Three Rivers answered with a big three-point basket to take the lead back to eight points. Three Rivers made just enough plays in the final moments to preserve the victory and earn a trip to the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament.

"It wasn't the style of game that we normally play," said Lady Roadrunners head coach Nicole Collier. "The rebounding numbers really stick out in this game, another number that sticks out is only having four assists when we usually averaged 18. I was disappointed with the way we competed in the first half and then I was super proud of the way they competed in the second half. We had a lot of growth tonight with our young players who got opportunities. They figured out some things about themselves and what they're capable of and I couldn't be more proud of them."

The Lady Roadrunners were playing without two starters due to injury.

The Lady Roadrunners had three players in double-figure scoring in the contest. Freshman guard Maliyah White of Minneapolis, Minn. led the team with 25 points. Freshman forward Taylor Wilson of Copperas Cove, Texas contributed 14 points. Wilson pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Pollard pitched in with 12 points. Sophomore guard Zoe Newland of St. Louis, Missouri dished out a team-high two assists. Redshirt freshman guard Jonise Barcene of Cocoa, Fla. registered a team-high two steals.

Five Lady Roadrunners earned honors from the coaches in Region 16 that were announced after the championship game. Collier was also named Region 16 Coach of the Year.

Sophomore forward Ellie Buscher of St. Louis, Mo. was named to the First-Team. Buscher was also named Player of the Year in Region 16 to go along with Defensive Player of the Year. Freshman guard Chloe Reed of Wentzville, Mo. also earned First-Team honors, along with Newland and sophomore guard Sophia Edwin of Killeen, Texas. White was named to the Second-Team.

Buscher averaged 13.1 points per game and pulled down 11.3 rebounds during the season. Buscher registered two steals per game and blocked 2.2 shots per game.

During the season, Reed scored 15.4 points per game. Reed pulled down 4.6 rebounds per game and dished out 2.6 assists per game. Reed registered 1.6 steals per game and one block per contest.

During the season, Newland contributed 11.9 points per game. Newland pulled down 5.4 rebounds per game. She dished out 2.4 per game and two steals per contest.

Edwin scored 9.6 points per contest. Edwin dished out 4.3 per game and registered 1.2 steals per game. Edwin pulled down 2.5 rebounds per game from a guard position for the season.

During the season, White added 8.5 points per game. White pulled down 2.3 rebounds per game and dished out 1.1 assists per contest.

"I was very proud of all the players who received honors in the Region," said Collier. "They all worked very hard to earn this recognition."

The Lady Roadrunners will now wait to see if they earn an at-large bid for the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament. The tournament field and seeding will be announced on Monday.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics