Lady Roadrunners Claim Region 16 Tournament Championship
The second-seeded State Fair Community College (SFCC) Lady Roadrunners basketball team advanced to the Region 16 Tournament Championship Game for the second consecutive year with a 78-64 victory over third-seeded Crowder College inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center in a Region 16 Semifinal round game in Sedalia on Tuesday night, March 11.
March 15, 2025
March 11 Crowder College at Sedalia
SEDALIA-The second-seeded State Fair Community College (SFCC) Lady Roadrunners basketball team advanced to the Region 16 Tournament Championship Game for the second consecutive year with a 78-64 victory over third-seeded Crowder College inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center in a Region 16 Semifinal round game in Sedalia on Tuesday night, March 11.
SFCC jumped out to a 14-4 advantage with about four minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Crowder cut the advantage to at 21-12 at the end of the first quarter. SFCC (23-6) led the game 35-27 at halftime.
Crowder refused to go away, trimming the SFCC advantage to five points at 35-30 with less than nine minutes remaining in the third quarter. Crowder wasn't done; they trimmed the advantage to two points at 35-33 with about eight minutes remaining in the third quarter. However, SFCC had an answer, and closed the quarter with an 18-11 run to take a 53-44 lead at the end of three quarters.
The Lady Roadrunners pushed the advantage to 10 points at 62-52 with about six minutes remaining in regulation. SFCC made several big shots in the fourth quarter to help secure the big postseason victory, including a big three-point shot from freshman guard Malia Rodgers of Montgomery City, Missouri with about four minutes remaining in regulation.
"(Crowder head coach) Tina (Wilson) does an excellent job," said Lady Roadrunners head coach Nicole Collier. "I knew they weren't going to just roll over and just let us beat them. They fought hard. They hung around so we couldn't blow them out. They knocked down some shots and we put them at the free-throw line a ton. I thought we made some critical plays in the fourth quarter that gave us some separation. Crowder is a good team."
Sophomore forward Kayla Sullivan of St. Louis, Missouri led four Lady Roadrunners in double figures with 23 points on eight of 15 shooting. Sullivan also pulled down 11 rebounds to record a double-double. Rodgers contributed 21 points, including five three-point shots. Sophomore guard Madison Johnson of Harrisonville, Missouri added 13 points. Sophomore guard Kimora McClure of Austin, Texas chipped in with 12 points. Freshman forward Ellie Buscher of St. Louis, Missouri pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds. McClure dished out a team-high five assists and tied for the team lead in steals with Buscher and Johnson with two each. Freshman forward Shae Wright of Grandview, Missouri blocked a shot in the game.
"I thought Malia knocked down some big shots," said Collier. "I thought Kayla was hard to guard inside and out. She wanted the ball. Madison Johnson is consistent, she is tough. She guards, she controls the tempo of the game and reads things extremely well. I thought La'Tommas Johnson-Nash stepped in and gave us some really good minutes. We just need to keep adding people to our depth. Kimora did a good job of seeing the floor. She is making the easy pass and creating open shots for teammates. She also took it to the rim when she should have and passed when she should have. Sophia Edwin also came in and gave us some good minutes. It was a total team effort."
March 14 Three Rivers Community College at Poplar Bluff
POPLAR BLUFF-The Lady Roadrunners (24-6) punched their ticket to the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship with a 73-70 victory over the top-seeded and third ranked Three Rivers Community College Lady Raiders in the Region 16 Tournament Championship Game in Poplar Bluff, Missouri on Friday, March 14.
Three Rivers jumped out to an early 13-6 lead with about four minutes remaining in the opening quarter. SFCC tied the game at 19 late in the quarter. Three Rivers led the game 22-19 at the end of the first quarter.
The Lady Roadrunners played very well in the second quarter. SFCC outscored Three Rivers 29-17 in the second quarter. SFCC tied the game at 22 with about nine minutes left in the second quarter. SFCC had a 34-28 lead with less than five minutes remaining in the quarter. SFCC pushed the lead to 44-30 with about three minutes remaining until halftime. Three Rivers went on a run of their own to cut the SFCC lead to 48-39 at halftime.
Three Rivers refused to go away as they trimmed the advantage to 54-50 with about two minutes remaining in the third quarter. Sullivan answered with a basket for SFCC to slow the Three Rivers momentum.
Three Rivers tied the game at 56 with about a minute remaining in the quarter. SFCC went on a 4-0 run to close out the quarter and lead 60-56.
SFCC had a 64-60 lead with less than five minutes to go in the game. Three Rivers fought back to tie the game at 64. Three Rivers took a 68-66 lead with a layup with about two minutes remaining.
Sullivan knocked down a huge three-point shot to give SFCC a 69-68 lead with about a minute remaining in the game. The Lady Roadrunners got a big stop on the defensive end of the floor with about 50 seconds remaining. Wright knocked down a pair of big free throws to extend the advantage to 71-68 with about 35 seconds remaining.
SFCC committed a turnover. Three Rivers had the ball with about 15 seconds remaining in the game with SFCC up three points. The Lady Roadrunners defense held strong. Three Rivers missed a pair of three-point attempts. Three Rivers pulled down a third offensive rebound and scored a two-point basket to cut the lead to one. The Lady Roadrunners got the ball to Sullivan who was fouled and went to the free-throw line, knocking down a pair free throws to give SFCC their fifth trip to the National Tournament in the history of the program. The tournament will take place in Casper, Wyoming.
Sullivan once again led the team in scoring with 21 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Sullivan also tied for the team lead in assists with Johnson with three each. Wright contributed 17 points and Rodgers added 12 points. Rodgers and Sullivan tied for the team lead in steals with two each. As a team, SFCC shot 48% from the field and 46% from beyond the three-point line.
"I am super proud of the way our players approached this game," said Collier. "We were in foul trouble early in the game, and it continued throughout the game. We showed our versatility through this stretch and were able to go into halftime up nine points. We settled into our defense. Offensively, we worked the ball through our post players, hit critical free throws late in game and did an excellent job of controlling the tempo. This is a very special group of Roadrunners!"
David Rohrbach
SFCC Athletics