Southeast Community College’s women’s basketball team won two and lost two during its first-ever appearance at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II national tournament, good for eighth place out of the 16-team field.
SCC, the 14th seed, began the tournament with a 60-53 loss to No. 3 Kirkwood Community College of Iowa. The Storm then won two straight, 62-53 over 11th-seeded St. Clair County of Michigan and 48-45 over 10th-seeded Lake Land Community College of Illinois, putting it into the seventh-place game against Chesapeake College of Maryland. Chesapeake, the 13th seed, won the game 65-50, securing SCC’s eighth-place finish.
The Storm, which finished the season with a 23-7 record, the Region IX championship and District F championship, got 13 points from Mesha Phillips and 10 each from Monique Stevens and Kindrea Poole against Chesapeake. SCC trailed 27-18 at halftime.
The Storm committed 24 turnovers, were outrebounded 51-43 and shot just 28 percent from the field in the loss to the Skipjacks.
Against Lake Land, SCC got 15 points, 12 rebounds, four steals, and three blocked shots from Poole in the victory.
Phillips’ 3-pointer with 15.7 seconds to play gave the Storm the victory. SCC took advantage of 25 Lake Land turnovers and poor 3-point shooting (1-for-13) to earn the victory.
Monroe College of New York won its second consecutive Division II title with a 78-73 victory over Lake Michigan College of Michigan in the championship game.
Monroe was seeded ninth in this year’s tournament; 11th in 2011.
A strong nucleus returns for the Storm and coach Vicki Wooton, including starters Phillips, a 5-4 guard from North Las Vegas; Caitlin Madden, a 5-5 guard from Lincoln (Northeast High School); and Hannah Tatum, a 5-10 forward from North Las Vegas.
Others returning who saw extensive action this season are Amanda Fluker, a 5-9 forward from Las Vegas; Adrianna Heredia, a 5-6 guard from Las Vegas; and MaKayla Gardner, a 6-2 forward from Wallace.