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No. 6 Women's Basketball advances to NJCAA semi-finals after upsetting No. 3 Rock Valley College
No. 6 Women's Basketball advances to NJCAA semi-finals after upsetting No. 3 Rock Valley College
Posted: Mar 21, 2024

No. 6 Women's Basketball advances to NJCAA semi-finals after upsetting No. 3 Rock Valley College

Photos Video Box Score Preview
Mesa Community College
(27-6)
80
AT
Rock Valley College
(34-1)
70
Game Leaders
Mesa Community College
Pts: Mackenzie Shivers - 22
Reb: Britany Kogbara - 14
Ast: Jaida Brooks - 7
Rock Valley College
Pts: 2 Players (#04, #13) - 13
Reb: 2 Players (#13, #22) - 7
Ast: 2 Players (#11, #43) - 2
Team Stats
Full stats

Wednesday March 19, 2024 - 1:30 p.m. | Dylan DeVlieger

No. 6 MCC Women's Basketball pulled off a big win on Wednesday night over No. 3 Rock Valley College in the quarter finals of the NJCAA DII Women's National Championship.

The Lady T-Birds defense again showed their firepower much like they did in their opening contest against SAU Tech as Mesa forced six turnovers in the first five minutes of  action. Mesa held the Golden Eagles scoreless in the final 3:28 of the quarter as they outscored RVC 17-8 in the frame.

Mesa started the second quarter on a 10-3 run as they would push their lead to as many as 19 after back-to-back threes from Ashiian Hunter and Miquedah Taliman. The Golden Eagles would spark a 7-0 run towards the end of the half to bring the score, 33-21 advantage Mesa.

Out of a timeout Mesa would execute a play to perfection as Britany Kogbara got an easy lay in off a beautiful assist by Jaida Brooks to stop the bleeding. 

MCC would take a 39-28 advantage into the halftime lockerroom.

The second half started off similar to the first, MCC forced RVC into turnovers and would capitalize. Shivers would beign the half with a steal and score, Mesa would foce a bad pass by the Golden Eagles on the next possession, and Brooks would draw a charge on the following possession to turn RVC away.

Rock Valley would shave their deficit down but Mesa had timely shot making from Shivers, Taliman, Alayna Boss, and Brooklyn Scurry. MCC would take a 59-46 lead into the fourth quarter.

Mesa would continue their physical aggressive play and it paid off to start the final period as the Golden Eagles would pick up three team fouls in the first minute and a half of action which send key players to the bench.

Even with their lineup shuffling RVC went on a big run to put pressure on the T-Birds. An and-one layup and a big three-pointer helped cut Mesa's lead to just four as the Golden Eagles had gone on a 10-1 run to start the frame.

Staying cool, calm, and collected Mesa worked the ball to the sophomore guard Shivers who knocked down a huge triple to extend their lead to seven and halt the Golden Eagles momentum.

From that point the T-Birds went on a 10-5 run to all but ice the contest. Mesa would seal the deal after hitting free-throws and turning the Golden Eagles away on offense to secure the, 80-70 victory.

Mesa as they've done all year pushed the pace and turn it into points as they outscored the Golden Eagles 19-7 in fastbreak points. MCC also dominated inside outsourcing RVC 44-26 in the paint.

The T-Birds seemed to calm down from their first contest and be in more control throughout the contest as they cut back on their turnovers, coughing it up 12 times as opposed to 21 in their last contest.

Mesa will now wait to play the winner of the No. 2 Kirkwood (IA) and No. 7 Morton College matchup which takes place Thursday evening. The semi-final contest will take place Friday at 8 p.m. CDT / 6 p.m. AZ time. 

Breakout T-Birds: