The 14th-ranked Lady Roadrunners lost two hard-fought games Dec. 11-12 in the Battle on the Border at Ozark Christian College in Joplin. SFCC (13-3) lost 60-58 to the Northern Oklahoma College-Enid Lady Jets Friday. On Saturday the Lady Roadrunners lost 94-86 in overtime to the 23rd-ranked Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Lady Norse from Miami, Oklahoma.
In Friday's game, the Lady Jets jumped out to a 38-22 lead at halftime. SFCC cut the deficit to 46-41 at the end of three quarters.
"We played a sagging man-to-man defense instead of our pressure defense," said Lady Roadrunners Head Coach Kevin Bucher. "They were beating us on the drive and in backdoor plays at the basket. We forced them to shoot over us, because they weren't shooting the ball as well from outside, with the exception of Rylie Torrey. Changing defenses changed the look of the game. What a big comeback."
Sophomore guard Zhanesha Dickerson knocked down back-to-back jumpers to open the final quarter, bringing the Lady Roadrunners to within one point at 46-45 with about seven minutes remaining. The Lady Jets made the plays in the final minutes to secure the victory.
Freshman guard Danae' Cole led SFCC in scoring with 11 points. Sophomore forward Thelma Williams contributed 10 points. Freshman guard Alexis Cowan pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and dished out a team-high two assists. Freshman center Kendra Boone led in blocked shots with three and sophomore guard Seara Clayborn led in steals with three.
On Saturday, a long two-point jump shot from Boone put SFCC up 11-2. The Lady Norse trimmed SFCC's advantage to seven at the end of the first quarter.
"I told the team we wouldn't be able to keep up if we came out like we did against Enid," said Bucher. "We were fired up and ready to go. It was a really good start. It was a game between two evenly matched teams."
The Lady Roadrunners held onto a 35-33 lead at halftime. The Lady Norse had a 55-51 lead at the end of three quarters. SFCC was down by three points late in the contest when Sierra Clayborn knocked down a huge three-point shot to send the game into overtime tied at 77. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M made the plays in the overtime to secure the victory. The game featured 13 lead changes and eight ties.
Sierra Clayborn led the Lady Roadrunners in scoring with 24 points. Dickerson contributed 23 points. Cole pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and dished out a team-high four assists. Alexis Cowan and Sierra Clayborn tied for the team lead in steals with two.
"It was probably one of the toughest schedules I've ever put together," said Bucher. "We played the toughest teams by far at the Battle on the Border. I'm hoping the quality of the teams we played will help us in region play, because we have some tough games ahead of us in January."
The Lady Roadrunners will return to action at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 9 in the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center on the Sedalia campus when they host the Three Rivers Community College Lady Raiders to open Region 16 and Missouri Community College Athletic Conference play.
David Rohrbach
SFCC Athletics