The 15th ranked Lady Roadrunners traveled to Hillsboro on Wednesday, Feb. 17, to take on the Jefferson College Lady Vikings. SFCC (20-6, 6-3 in Region 16, 6-2 in the MCCAC) lost a hard-fought 92-88 game in overtime in the final regular season road contest. 

The Lady Roadrunners got off to a quick start in the game and led 14-4. They led 21-13 at the end of the first quarter. 

"We were able to get out in transition and hit some good shots," said Lady Roadrunners Head Coach Kevin Bucher. "We really should have had an even bigger lead, but we missed several easy shots in that stretch. Then Jefferson started hitting three-point shots, and we weren't guarding as well as we should have. Twenty turnovers are too many." 

Jefferson fought back to take a 39-37 advantage into the locker room at halftime. The lead bounced back and forth throughout the third and fourth quarters. SFCC found themselves ahead by six points late in the fourth quarter. However, Jefferson fought back to tie the game at 81 to force an overtime. The Lady Vikings made enough plays in overtime to emerge with the victory. 

"We just had too many turnovers," said Bucher. "Even in the last two minutes of regulation when we had a six-point lead, we threw the ball away. Jefferson came down and made their shots." 

Sophomore guard Sierra Clayborn led four Lady Roadrunners in double-figure scoring with 13 points. Freshman center Kendra Boone contributed 12 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Thelma "TuTu" Williams added 11 points and six rebounds. Freshman guard Alexis Cowan chipped in 11 points, and sophomore guard Zhanesha Dickerson pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds. 

Coach Bucher sees several important keys to the upcoming home contest Feb. 20 against the Mineral Area College Lady Cardinals from Park Hills. 

"We have to eliminate turnovers and take care of the basketball," said Bucher. "We also have to do a better job of rebounding and playing half-court defense. Mineral Area likes to run the floor. They shoot the ball extremely well, and they'll be a challenging opponent for our homecoming celebration."

 Tipoff for the women's game is 5:30 p.m. The men's game is at 7:30 p.m. at the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center. These games will be the final regular season games for SFCC. 

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics