Women's Basketball hosts Scottsdale in the Region I DII Finals on Saturday night
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Scottsdale Community College | 14 | 9 | 9 | 17 | 49 |
|
Mesa Community College | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 52 |
Scottsdale Community College
| Game Statistics | Scottsdale Community College | Mesa Community College |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (18-52) | (19-60) |
| Field Goal % | 34.6% | 31.7% |
| Rebounds | 33 | 37 |
| Assists | 13 | 12 |
| Turnovers | 16 | 9 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 10 | 10 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 7 | 9 |
| Pts in the Paint | 14 | 22 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 2 | 8 |
| Bench Pts | 3 | 6 |
Friday March 8, 2024 - 4:40 p.m. | Dylan DeVlieger
No. 1 seed Mesa will host No. 3 seed Scottsdale in the Region I DII Finals on Saturday evening.
MCC took care of business on their home court Thursday against No. 4 seed Chandler-Gilbert, beating the Coyotes 82-63 to advance to the Finals.
Mackenzie Shivers shined in her postseason debut as the Lady T-Birds had four players in double figures including Kamiyah Hurd who earned a double-double as she had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
MCC dominated the first half taking a 43-20 lead into the halftime locker room as they would work their advantage to as many as 30 points in the second half.
This will be the ninth Region I DII Finals appearance for head coach Kori Stephenson and the Lady T-Birds in the last 10 seasons as they chase their fifth title in that timeframe.
Mesa has had a historic season thus far as they've defeated multiple top ranked teams including Morton College when they were the No. 5 team in the country as well as College of Southern Idaho when they were the No. 3 DI team in the country.
No. 3 seed Scottsdale pulled off another postseason upset as they went down to Tucson and took down No. 2 seed Pima 49-43. This is the second year SCC has won the two three matchup as they upset Mesa last season in the Semi-Finals.
Scottsdale held Pima to 43 points which tied a season low for the Aztecs as they shot 35% from the field and went 0-11 from three-point range. Sophomore forward Danay Williams had a monster game for the Fighting Artichokes as she had 18 points to go along with 18 rebounds.
Stephenson and company know the task at hand and keying in on Williams and sophomore guard Talia Dial will be critical for Mesa to pull out the victory.
"Defending their two best players and keeping them off the glass," said Stephenson when asked what the keys to victory will be.
That job is easier said than done as Dial is averaging 14.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest this season. Williams has also had a breakout campaign averaging 13 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.
In the three games against MCC this season Dial averaged 10.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game while Williams averaged eight points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
In their Semi-Finals meeting last season No. 3 Scottsdale took home the shocking 65-59 upset over No. 2 Mesa in part to a big game by Williams who had 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Scottsdale actually swept Mesa last season being the only DII team to take down the T-Birds in each matchup.
This season has been vastly different in this emerging rivalry between MCC and SCC. In all three contests this season Mesa has come out on top in thrilling fashion.
In their first and only meeting at Theo Heap Gymnasium MCC took home a nail biting, 52-51 win. Mesa came out firing in the first quarter outscoting Scottsdale 16-6 in the opening period, but in the second the Lady T-Birds would have their worst shooting quarter of the season as they went 1-17 from the field and were outscored by SCC, 14-2 as the Fighting Artichokes took a 20-18 lead into the halftime locker room. A big development from the first half was Kamiyah Hurd who picked up three fouls in the first half leading to Ashiian Hunter taking her place to start the second half.
Hunter made the most of her opportunity scoring 10 points in the third quarter she provided not only a lift for her team but helped keep MCC in the game as Hurd was on the bench with foul trouble.
MCC held a 38-33 lead going into the fourth quarter as the two teams battled back and forth to gain the lead which changed hands several times. Scottsdale opened the quarter on a 14-7 run and increased their lead to as many as five points with 5:30 left to play.
Mesa fought their way back into the contest with under a minute to go as Shivers would come up with a big time steal with just about 30 seconds left taking it away from Kristin Scabby near midcourt. As Shivers fought to keep possession of the ball from the floor, she somehow found Hurd streaking to the basket to deliver a perfect pass while still seated, setting up Hurd for a layup that gave MCC a 52-51 advantage with 26 seconds left.
Mesa would have to produce one more defensive stand as Scottsdale had possession with an opportunity to steal the victory with the final shot.
After working the ball around SCC would have an open look for three and the win but the shot would not be on target, a rebound by Miquedah Taliman wouldn't put the game away as there were still five seconds left.
Taliman would pass it off to Shivers who caught it under her own basket and would scramble up the sideline away from two defenders. Once Shivers found herself nearly trapped by four Artichokes she changed direction working back towards the baseline, somehow avoiding being fouled as the clock ran out as Mesa secured the win.
Hurd led the way in scoring for Mesa as she had 14 (10 in the fourth quarter), Hunter had 12 off the bench and Britany Kogbara grabbed 11 rebounds in the win.
Mesa would do an outstanding job keeping Williams in check as she had five points and a season low two rebounds. Dial ended the game with 13 points and four rebounds.
In their second matchup on Jan. 17 Mesa traveled to Scottsdale for the first time in their season. MCC started fast, outscoring Scottsdale 14-8 in the opening period and would find themselves with a 31-22 advantage going into the halftime locker room. The Artichokes would outscore MCC in the third period 14-10 but would not swing the momentum in their favor heading into the final period as the Lady T-Birds would outscore Scottsdale, 16-12 in the final frame and prevail in the contest, 57-46.
Hunter had a big game for Mesa as she had a game high 16 points and four made three-pointers. Shivers was also hot from deep as she went 4-5 from downtown tallying 14 points in the win. Kogbara had another big day on the boards grabbing 12 rebounds as Hurd had seven herself.
Dial had seven points for Scottsdale while Williams had nine points and eight boards.
In their third and final meeting of the year Mesa would build a 32-24 lead going into halftime. SCC would outscore Mesa 35-31 in the second half but were unable to overtake the T-Birds as Mesa would complete the season sweep of the Artichokes with a 63-59 victory.
Hunter came up big again for Mesa scoring 20 points as she nailed four three-pointers. Jaida Brooks also had a standout game as she had 18 points and six rebounds.
Dial scored 11 points in the loss while Williams had her best game against Mesa as she grabbed 13 rebounds and scored 10 points.
On Saturday Mesa will host the Fighting Artichokes for only the second time this season, having the home court advantage has been beneficial for Mesa as they've gone 16-3 this season at home.
"To have the number one seed and being able to keep everything routine and being at your own place it just keeps the decision making a lot simpler so you're free of distractions," said Stephenson when asked how important home court advantage is.
The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. at Theo Heap Gymnasium, catch the live stream via T-Birds Sports Live!
Tickets (cash and card accepted):
Adults - $5.00
Students with MCC ID, children under the age of 12, adults 65 or over - $3.00
Non-perishable items will not gain you free entry into the game, all who enter must pay the above price.
