The 18th ranked Lady Roadrunners started their four-game road trip off on the right foot with a 71-64 victory Saturday night, Feb. 6, in Poplar Bluff over the Three Rivers Community College Lady Raiders. SFCC (19-4, 5-1 in Region 16, 5-1 in the MCCAC) got their offense started with a pair of three-point shots from sophomore guard Sierra Clayborn. 

"Sierra kept us in the ball game," said Lady Roadrunners Head Coach Kevin Bucher. "That was one of the things we talked about. I felt that if we got down very far, we would be able to come back. Before the game we talked about matching them basket for basket. Sierra definitely helped do that for us." 

The Lady Raiders fought back to take a 33-31 lead at halftime, but SFCC made the plays in the second half to emerge with a hard-fought road victory that featured 12 lead changes and four ties. 

"We did a good job of getting some defensive stops," said Bucher. "The other thing we did was make our free throws down the stretch. We shot 30 free throws as a team, and a lot of those were toward the end of the game." 

Sierra Clayborn led in scoring with 22 points. She knocked down six three-point shots. Sophomore forward Thelma "TuTu" Williams added 19 points and nine rebounds. Freshman center Kendra Boone contributed 10 points. Freshman guard Danae' Cole pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and dished out a team-high five assists. Freshman guard Ahjana Oakes chipped in four assists. 

"It was a great team effort," said Bucher. "We knew it was going to be a very good game in front of a packed house. We had people who stepped up that needed to. It was a good win on the road." 

The Lady Roadrunners will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 10, when they travel to Neosho to take on Crowder College in another key Region 16 contest. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. 

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics