Lady Roadrunners extend winning streak to five with a pair of victories

The State Fair Community College Lady Roadrunners opened Region 16  play with a 68-57 home victory over the Moberly Area Community College Lady Greyhounds on Jan. 10.

SFCC (14-1, 1-0 in Region 16) jumped out to a 7-1 lead with seven minutes and 50 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. Moberly took advantage of a long scoring drought from SFCC to lead at the end of the first quarter 14-13. SFCC struggled to handle the full-court trapping defense employed by the Lady Greyhounds most of the game. However, SFCC held Moberly to only two points in the second quarter to take a 25-16 lead into halftime. SFCC led 45-29 at the end of three quarters.

The Lady Greyhounds used more of their pressure defense in the final quarter to pull within seven points with about five minutes remaining. Moberly tried to extend the game by sending the Lady Roadrunners to the free-throw line late in the quarter. The Lady Roadrunners made their free throws to secure the important Region victory.

"There were moments where we looked really good and there were moments we didn't," said Lady Roadrunners Head Coach Nicole Collier. "Moberly plays a style of play that we haven't played against this year. Hopefully, we will have a better understanding of what is coming next time. There's a lot to learn from this game. We have to cut back on our turnovers. We have to figure out how to finish games and handle the pressure, but we will get there. It's always nice to open Region play on your home court. I thought we shot free throws well down the stretch. I'm proud of the effort that our team displayed tonight."

Freshman guard Nakayla Green led SFCC in scoring with 25 points, including six of 12 from three-point range. Freshman guard Madison Johnson contributed 14 points. Sophomore forward Quincenia Jackson pulled down a team-high 15 rebounds and two blocked shots. Freshman guard La'Tommas Johnson-Nash, Johnson, sophomore center Jaida Shipp, and freshman guard Myra Claas each had two assists in the game. Johnson led the team in steals with three.

Jan.13 North Arkansas College at Harrison, Arkansas

SFCC (15-1) claimed a hard-fought victory over North Arkansas College 65-64 in Harrison, Arkansas on Saturday, Jan. 13.

The Lady Roadrunners jumped out to an 8-0 lead to begin the game with six minutes and 20 seconds remaining the opening quarter. SFCC led 21-18 at the end the first quarter after a nice run for North Arkansas cut into the deficit.

North Arkansas came back to take a 36-33 lead into halftime. North Arkansas pushed their advantage to 51-47 after three quarters.

SFCC answered the run by North Arkansas to take a 54-51 lead with less than nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. North Arkansas continued to fight and tied the game at 54 with seven minutes and 36 seconds remaining in the final quarter. North Arkansas took a one-point lead with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. North Arkansas pushed the lead to 64-61 with less than a minute remaining in regulation.

SFCC cut the lead to one point with 23.7 seconds remaining. The Lady Roadrunners employed full-court pressure to force a turnover on the ensuing possession with 19.7 seconds remaining. Sophomore guard Tanila Marshall grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to give SFCC the lead with about 10 seconds remaining.

North Arkansas missed a shot that hung on the back of the rim and SFCC grabbed the ball to close out the game and escaped with a victory.

Shipp led four Lady Roadrunners in double-figure scoring with 15 points. Green contributed 14. Johnson added 11. Marshall registered a double-double with 10 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Marshall, freshman guard Maliyah Miller, and freshman forward Briar Cox all tied for the team lead in assists with two. Miller, freshman guard Violeta Rojas Narváez, and Cox all tied for team lead in steals with three each.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics