Feb. 25 Mineral Area College at Park Hills, Missouri

The sixth seeded Lady Roadrunners (6-23) saw their season end with a 74-59 loss to third-seeded Mineral Area College Lady Cardinals on Tuesday, Feb. 25, in the quarterfinal round of the NJCAA Region 16 Tournament in Park Hills.

Mineral Area jumped out to an early 10-1 lead in the first quarter. They led 20-10 at the end of first quarter. The Lady Cardinals pushed the advantage to 36-23 at halftime and led 60-38 at the end of three quarters.

SFCC got their offense going in the fourth quarter to cut into the deficit, but the Lady Cardinals made the plays necessary to emerge with the victory.

"I thought we played pretty well," said Head Coach Kevin Bucher. "Mineral Area went on two big runs in the game. Our defense and rebounding were two huge factors in why we lost the game. It seems like we always spot teams 10 or 12 points, and they keep that lead and put the  score out of reach in the last three or four minutes of the game."

Coach Bucher was pleased with the play of his sophomores in their final game as Lady Roadrunners.

"I thought Nadia Thorman-McKey (Evanston, Illinois) played well," said Bucher. "I thought Connor Watkins (Charleston) played well. Freshman Darlisha Reed also played well for us underneath the basket. Those three players helped us keep it close. I thank Nadia and Connor for choosing to play at State Fair. We wish them the very best, and now we have to regroup and start looking forward to next year."

Reed registered a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds to lead her team in both categories. Watkins contributed 11 points. Thorman-McKey dished out a team-high three assists. Freshman guard Aleah Bell of Margate, Florida, registered a team-leading two steals, and freshman guard Laila McNeal of Chicago, Illinois, registered a team-leading two blocked shots.

David Rohrbach
SFCC Athletics