Lady Roadrunners rally falls short on homecoming

The 20th ranked Lady Roadrunners fell in their final regular season contest to the 24th ranked Mineral Area College Lady Cardinals from Park Hills by a score of 72-63 Saturday, Feb. 20. SFCC (20-7, 6-4 in Region 16, 6-3 in the MCCAC) found themselves trailing 39-17 at halftime at the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center on the Sedalia campus. 

The Lady Cardinals stretched the lead to 58-36 at the end of the third quarter. The Lady Roadrunners then implemented a full-court trapping defense, which created a more up-tempo contest. 

"We were trapping all of the time because we had to create more possessions," said Lady Roadrunners Head Coach Kevin Bucher. "I thought it wore down Mineral Area's three-point shooters and created some turn overs." 

A basket from sophomore forward Thelma "TuTu" Williams cut the deficit to 63-57 with about two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. However, the Lady Cardinals made their free throws to retain their lead. 

Williams led three Lady Roadrunners in double-figure scoring with 19 points. She also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Zhanesha Dickerson contributed 14 points. Sophomore guard Sierra Clayborn added 11 points. Dickerson dished out a team-high four assists, and Sierra Clayborn registered a team-high three steals in the game. 

The Lady Roadrunners have earned the number two seed in the upcoming Region 16 Women's Division I Basketball Tournament. SFCC will take on the winner of the quarterfinal game between Three Rivers and Moberly. SFCC will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 25, in a semifinal game at the Ozark Christian College Multipurpose Building in Joplin. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. 

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics