Feb. 20 Jefferson College at Sedalia, Missouri

The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Lady Roadrunners closed out the home portion of their regular season schedule with an 85-71 victory over the Jefferson College Lady Vikings from Hillsboro, Missouri on Wednesday, Feb. 20 inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center. The game was part of the Region 16 and Missouri Community College Athletic Conference schedule for both teams.

SFCC used a big fourth quarter to blow open a fairly close contest and secure the victory. The Lady Roadrunners held a 54-51 lead at the end of three quarters and outscored Jefferson 31-20 in the final quarter.

"Monique (Esbrand) really wants to win," said Lady Roadrunners Basketball Head Coach Kevin Bucher. "She wants to work hard. I'm glad that she is finishing the season the way I expected her to. Nokoia White has also been playing consistently well for us. "

Esbrand led SFCC in scoring with 24 points. She knocked down six of her nine three-point attempts and all six of her free-throw attempts. White contributed 19 points. Freshman forward Sahara Bamba added 14 points.

Feb. 23 Mineral Area College at Park Hills, Missouri

The SFCC Lady Roadrunners closed out the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 23 at Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Missouri, dropping a heartbreaking 62-60 contest. The game was part of the Region 16 and MCCA schedule for both teams. The game featured five lead changes and three ties.

The Lady Cardinals started the game strong, leading 20-15 at the end of one quarter. Mineral Area took a 12 point lead near the end of the third quarter. SFCC refused to go away quietly, going on an 18-6 run to tie the game at 60 with 23.8 seconds remaining, courtesy of a pair of made free throws from Esbrand.

The Lady Cardinals answered with a layup to take a 62-60 lead with 2.7 seconds remaining. SFCC had an opportunity to tie the game, but the ensuing inbounds pass was fumbled out of bounds.

"We were able to get some steals off of our press," said Bucher. "We were able to convert about three or four times in a row. We kept it close enough, where they never got out of reach like our game did here."

SFCC (7-17, 3-7 in Region 16, 2-8 in the MCCAC) was led in scoring by Esbrand with 16 points who also dished out a team-leading seven assists. Bamba and White contributed 14 points each. Bamba pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in the game.

"It was a great game," said Bucher. "It is difficult to win down there. I thought our players came out and played hard. We had our chances to win the game. We missed a couple of big layups. We got great minutes from Sahara, Monique, and Nokoia."

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics