Turnovers Doom Thunderbirds In 72-50 Loss
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mesa Community College (23-8) | 9 | 9 | 16 | 16 | 50 |
|
CCBC Essex (34-0) | 20 | 16 | 25 | 11 | 72 |
CCBC Essex
| Game Statistics | Mesa Community College | CCBC Essex |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (19-61) | (21-71) |
| Field Goal % | 31.1% | 29.6% |
| Rebounds | 45 | 49 |
| Assists | 9 | 7 |
| Turnovers | 28 | 17 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 8 | 28 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 11 | 11 |
| Pts in the Paint | 16 | 14 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 0 | 0 |
| Bench Pts | 27 | 20 |
Wednesday, March 16, 2022 - 8:18 pm | Derek Diesner
Port Huron, Mich. - The 6-seed Mesa Thunderbirds (23-8) fell on Wednesday evening in a quarterfinal match-up, to the 3-seed CCBC Essex Knights (34-0) by a final of 72-50 at the SC4 Fieldhouse in Port Huron, Michigan.
The T-Birds will look to keep their season alive at the NJCAA DII National Tournament on Thursday when they face the 2-seed, Johnson County (32-2) from Kansas. Thursday's opening tip is scheduled to begin at 3 pm Eastern time / 12 noon Arizona time. The game can be seen live on the NJCAA Network.
Wednesday's game opened with a Love Troupe two-point bucket to give the Thunderbirds the early 2-0 lead; little did they know that would be the only lead of the game for Mesa. The Knights from CCBC Essex would go on to outscore the T-Birds 20-7 the remainder of the quarter and take an 11 point lead into the second quarter. Things wouldn't get any easier for the Mesa in the second quarter, as they struggled to shoot just 23% in the first half; heading into the locker room down 36-18.
In the second half, the Knights exploded for 25 points in the third quarter to really open the game up. Mesa would outscore CCBC Essex by five in the fourth quarter but the game was already out of reach.
The Thunderbirds were plagued by their 28 turnovers; which led to 28 points for the Knights. CCBC Essex was a little less careless with the ball, committing 19 turnovers, but Mesa only was able to capitalize for eight points.
The Mesa defense came to play on Wednesday evening, holding the 3-seed to their lowest scoring output of the season at just 72 points. CCBC Essex's previous low was 73 points back on December 14 against Union County College; which is also in the NJCAA DII National Tournament field. The Knights were held to just 29% shooting but won Wednesday's game at the free-throw line. CCBC Essex made 22 of their 25 free-throw attempts, while Mesa shot just 6-of-13 from the charity stripe.
Myka Taliman led the way for the T-Birds, finishing with a team-high 14 points, five rebounds, two steals, and one assist. Mesa's leading scorer Jayla Johnson had her worst shooting performance of the season, finishing 0-for-10 from the field and 0-for-2 from the free-throw line. Jasmine Belt added 12 points off the bench and Taylor Tiulana chimed in with 11 points off the bench as well.
On Thursday afternoon, the T-Birds and Johnson County Lady Cavaliers will square off for just the second time in their program's history. The first meeting between these two schools happened in the 2011-12 season. Mesa came out victorious 44-42. The T-BIrds would go on to win their next game after playing Johnson County, to claim 5th place that season.
Don't forget to check out the MCC Team Shop, as well as our Booster Club.
