Lady Roadrunners split a pair of Region 16 contests

 January 24 Moberly Area Community College at Moberly

The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Lady Roadrunners lost a Region 16 and Missouri Community College Athletic Conference game 65-61 to the Moberly Area Community College Lady Greyhounds in Moberly on Wednesday, Jan. 24.

Moberly jumped out to an 8-2 lead with less than five minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Moberly used their pressure defense to force a lot of turnovers against SFCC throughout the contest. SFCC tied the game at 12 with about a minute remaining in the quarter. SFCC trailed 15-14 at the end the first quarter.

SFCC took a 20-17 with less than five minutes remaining in the second quarter. The Lady Greyhounds refused to go away and took a 26-22 lead at halftime. Moberly extended their advantage to 35-28 in the third quarter. SFCC trimmed the advantage to 38-35 at the end of three quarters.

SFCC cut the deficit to one point courtesy of a basket from sophomore forward Quincenia Jackson to make the score 47-46 with less than five minutes to go in regulation. SFCC would tie the game at 52 off a huge three-point basket from freshman guard Myra Claas with about 34 seconds remaining.

The Lady Roadrunners got a defensive stop on the ensuing possession, but couldn't score in the final seconds. The game was tied at 52 headed into overtime.

Claas knocked down another big three-point shot to give SFCC a 58-57 lead with a minute and 39 seconds remaining in overtime. Moberly led 62-61 with around 30 seconds remaining in overtime after another basket from Jackson. The Lady Greyhounds made the plays in the final seconds to pick up the victory.

Sophomore guard Tanila Marshall recorded a double-double and led the Lady Roadrunners with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Marshall also tied for the team lead in assists with freshman guard Violeta Rojas Narváez with three each. Claas contributed 12 points. Freshman guard Madison Johnson led the team with three steals.

January 27 Crowder College at Sedalia

SFCC (17-3, 3-2 in Region 16) bounced back with a 75-55 Region 16 victory over Crowder College inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center in Sedalia on Saturday, Jan. 27.

SFCC led 16-4 with less than two minutes remaining in the opening quarter. The Lady Roadrunners pushed their lead to 19-4 at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Roadrunners led 38-20 at halftime.

Crowder cut the SFCC advantage to 10 points in the third quarter, but they would get no closer. SFCC played a solid fourth quarter to earn the victory.

"We knew we weren't going to win the game in the first quarter," said Lady Roadrunners Head Coach Nicole Collier. "We wanted to make sure we did all the small details well that have that have put us in a good spot before. I thought we did that early in the game. We went deep into our bench, which is something I wanted to do. I thought our bench did a good job tonight. In the third quarter, I thought we just didn't value possessions. We have to figure out how to keep our foot on the accelerator. Crowder is a very gritty and tough team. We were able to spread the game out a bit in the fourth quarter."

Claas led four Lady Roadrunners in double-figure scoring with 16 points. Sophomore center Jaida Shipp registered a double-double with 14 points and a team-high 15 rebounds. Shipp also registered a blocked shot. Freshman guard Kimora McClure added 11 points. Marshall pitched in with 10. Johnson dished out a team-high five assists and led the team in steals with four.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics