Solid first half, stingy defense lead woman's basketball over Cochise
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cochise College (13-6, 7-5) | 25 | 32 | 57 |
|
Mesa Community College (13-6, 8-4) | 33 | 31 | 64 |
| Game Statistics | Cochise College | Mesa Community College |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (21-59) | (17-46) |
| Field Goal % | 35.6% | 37.0% |
| Rebounds | 29 | 32 |
| Assists | 7 | 8 |
| Turnovers | 16 | 15 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 13 | 22 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 9 | 8 |
| Pts in the Paint | 14 | 16 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 6 | 6 |
| Bench Pts | 19 | 22 |
Mesa, AZ-Last time these two teams played, it was a three quarter court Erica Vasquez buzzer beater that helped Mesa defeat Cochise down in Douglas. This time around, Mesa handled the Apaches without heroics at the buzzer as they defeated Cochise, 64-57.
Mesa scored first and never let go of that lead in the first half, as they went up by as much as 14 points midway through the half, 18-4.
The T-Birds had big production off their bench, especially from Destinee Wright(R-Fr, Tolleson, AZ, LaHoya H.S.) who had a career high nine points, all coming in the first half. She went 7-7 from the free throw line.
Also coming up big for Mesa was Taylor Reed(Fr., Kingman, AZ, Kingman H.S.) who scored four of her 12 points in the first half to go along with six total rebounds and two steals.
Mesa shot 10 of 11 from the free throw line in the half to take an eight point lead into halftime.
Cochise woke up in the second half, cutting the Mesa lead early on to just five, 35-30, within the first three minutes of the half but it was three Kylie Herd(So., Phoenix, AZ, Arcadia H.S.) free throws and a layup and a three pointer from Brianna Clah(Fr., Chinle, AZ, Many Farms H.S.) to extend the lead back up to nine with 13 minutes to play.
The Apaches would not surrender as they battled back, again bringing the Mesa lead to only four with four minutes to play. Cochise attacked a Mesa zone defence which allowed the Apaches to tie the game at 57 with two minutes to play.
But Mesa had one advantaged heading into the final two minutes and it was that Cochise was in foul trouble which sent Mesa to the line on every foul. The T-Birds connected on seven of their last 10 free throws to seal the victory.
Mesa moves now to 13-6 overall and 8-4 in the ACCAC. With this victory, Mesa has swept Cochise in the two regular season games, both in exciting fashion.
The T-Birds will head up the 101 on Saturday when the play Scottsdale at 6 p.m. Follow all the action T-Bird Sports Live, audio only broadcast.