The 23rd-ranked Lady Roadrunners got their first taste of life on the road Nov. 4 when they traveled to Mount Carmel, Illinois, where they defeated the 19th-ranked Wabash Valley College Lady Warriors 71-67.

Sophomore center Alecia Cooley opened the contest with a basket for SFCC to give the Lady Roadrunners a lead they would never relinquish.

SFCC (3-0) pushed the advantage to 32-22 late in the first half. The 11-point lead was the largest held by either team in the contest. Wabash Valley trimmed the lead to six points with less than a minute remaining in the first half. SFCC got a rebound and put back from freshman center Raven Mammah to give the Lady Roadrunners a 38-30 lead at halftime.

"We did a good job attacking the glass," said Lady Roadrunners Head Coach Kevin Bucher. "We had lots of free throw opportunities. Sannayyiah Johnson made 15 of 16 from the free-throw line, and we only missed three free-throw attempts all night as a team. I was impressed with how Sannayyiah played after being off for a couple of weeks. She shot the ball well and played extremely hard. Cooley also played hard inside for us."

The Lady Warriors continued to fight in the second half, cutting SFCC's lead to one at 54-53 after a three-point basket. SFCC made the plays to hold off Wabash Valley and emerge with the 71-67 victory.

"We made some mistakes that could have been costly, but we came back and either got a rebound or a great defensive stop," said Bucher. "We were able to out-rebound a much taller team 55 to 36. I was concerned about our ability to rebound against them, but we really stepped up. It was a great college basketball game."

Johnson led the Lady Roadrunners with 21 points in 24 minutes and also added seven rebounds and two steals. Cooley registered another double double with 18 points and 12 rebounds and contributed three blocked shots. Freshman guard/forward Zhanesha Dickerson pitched in with 12 points and three rebounds. SFCC forced 21 turnovers in the game and registered 12 steals. The Lady Roadrunners knocked down 27 of their 30 free-throw attempts.

SFCC will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Nov 7-8 to play in the Kirkwood Classic. SFCC will take on the Iowa Central Community College Tritons at 6 p.m. Friday and the host Kirkwood Community College Eagles at 3 p.m. Saturday.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics Department