Women's Basketball takes home third place at the NJCAA DII National Championship
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mesa Community College (28-7) | 9 | 23 | 13 | 15 | 60 |
|
CCBC Essex (27-8) | 8 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 48 |
CCBC Essex
| Game Statistics | Mesa Community College | CCBC Essex |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (20-66) | (16-60) |
| Field Goal % | 30.3% | 26.7% |
| Rebounds | 58 | 37 |
| Assists | 10 | 6 |
| Turnovers | 23 | 17 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 15 | 14 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 12 | 10 |
| Pts in the Paint | 12 | 18 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 5 | 7 |
| Bench Pts | 8 | 24 |
Saturday March 23, 2024 - 6:30 p.m. | Dylan DeVlieger
The MCC Women's Basketball team took home third place in the 2024 NJCAA DII Women's Basketball National Championship on Saturday after their 60-48 victory over No. 4 CCBC Essex.
The action started slow for both teams as neither Mesa (17.4%) nor CCBC Essex (16.7%) shot more than 20% from the field in the opening quarter. The Knights kept Mesa scoreless for the first 3:07 of the contest until Jaida Brooks put her team on the board with a jumper.
Mesa again struggled to take care of the ball in the opening quarter, coughing it up 6 times in the first period, luckily due in part to CCBC Essex's struggles the Knights were unable to capitalize on the turnovers, yielding them 0 points off takeaways. MCC would end the quarter leading the Knights, 9-8.
In the second quarter Mesa began to hit their stride, starting the quarter with a 9-1 run which extended their lead into the doubles as they controlled the pace and forced seven turnovers in the quarter and scored 10 points off of those takeaways.
MCC would work their lead to the largest of the contest towards the end of the half as they would push the score to 32-14 in their favor before going into the locker room with a 32-19 lead.
In the first half both teams seemed to struggle from the floor as Mesa shot 26.8% from the field but the Knights certainly had issues scoring the basketball as they connected at just a 17.2% rate from the floor in the first half.
The third quarter would be a battle back and forth between the two teams as neither could gain an advantage on the other. Mesa hit a bit of a slump from the 5:50 mark until 1:58 left in the quarter the T-Birds remained scoreless. MCC would stay tough on the defensive end during that stretch only surrendering five points to the Knights.
Mesa took a 45-34 lead going into the fourth quarter and would have the margin shaved down to as little as six in the final period before Mackenzie Shivers and Jaida Brooks would hit back-to-back triples to double their lead.
The T-Birds lock down on the defensive end to secure the win holding the Knights to five points on 18% shooting from the field in the final eight minutes enroute to their 60-48 victory.
Mackenzie Shivers finished the game with a career high 28 points on 38% shooting from the field while nailing five three-pointers. Shivers also grabbed six rebounds while snatching two steals in the win.
To say Kamiyah Hurd was an anchor for the T-Birds on the glass is an understatement as she grabbed 20 total rebounds (nine offensive, 11 defensive) while also scoring six points. Hurd (9) almost had as many offensive rebounds as the Knights (13) did as a team.
As a team Mesa dominated the glass out rebounding CCBC Essex 58-37. Mesa had a season high 25 offensive rebounds.
Mesa's defense again was solid against one of the better offensive teams in the country as they held the Knights to 48 points (tied for the lowest total of the season) on just 26.7% shooting which was the lowest percentage for the Knights all year.
With their 28th win on the year Mesa tied the program record for most in a season while their third place finish is their best since their national championship back in 2014.
With their 3-1 mark at the national championship this season Mesa improves their overall tournament record to 19-16 and 17-12 under head coach Kori Stephenson.
Photo credit to overtimejimmy.
Breakout Tournament T-Birds:
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Mackenzie Shivers had herself quite the tournament as she scored a total of 73 points in the four games on 50.2% shooting from the floor. Shivers hit timely buckets throughout the tournament when Mesa needed them most.
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Kamiyah Hurd had a breakout first game of the tournament scoring the ball as she had 19 points (nine in the third quarter) to lead all scorers. Hurd helped Mesa control the glass in their four games as she grabbed nearly six rebounds per contest including a career high 20 rebounds in their final game of the tournament.
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Brittany Kogbara was also a monster on the glass for Mesa in their four game tournament run as she averaged 9.25 rebounds per game while also scoring 8.75 points per contest. Kogbara had back-to-back double-doubles in the first two games of the tournament for Mesa.
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Jaid Brooks averaged 10.75 points per game while shooting 39.1% from the field. Brooks also kept her teammates involved as she would have a game high seven assists against No. 3 Rock Valley and six against No. 4 CCBC Essex.
