No. 4 Lady T-Birds win NJCAA Tournament opener
NMJC moves on to Thursday's national quarterfinal
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
20 | 35 | 55 |
|
|
25 | 35 | 60 |
Team Stats
Wabash Valley College
New Mexico Junior College
| Game Statistics | Wabash Valley College | New Mexico Junior College |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (12-52) | (21-51) |
| Field Goal % | 23.1% | 41.2% |
| Rebounds | 48 | 33 |
| Assists | 0 | 9 |
| Turnovers | 24 | 21 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 7 | 24 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 12 | 6 |
| Bench Pts | 11 | 9 |
SALINA, Kan. — The fourth-seeded New Mexico Junior College women's basketball team shook off its nerves and held off No. 13 Wabash Valley College 60-55 Tuesday in the second round of the NJCAA National Tournament at the Bicentennial Center.
NMJC (29-3) will play in the NJCAA quarterfinals 3 p.m. (CST) Thursday against the winner of No. 5 Walters State and No. 12 Seward County. Watch it live here.
The Lady Thunderbirds never trailed Tuesday, but also never pulled away as starters Angelica de Paulo, Kelsey Criner, Alana da Silva and Antoina Robinson all battled foul trouble with only Robinson making it to the end of the game.
"They never got it close, but I never thought we had it because of the foul trouble," NMJC coach Drew Sanders said. "… It probably would've gotten closer if they would've really guarded us and put us on the foul line because of how poorly we shot it from there. If we hit our free throws it was over."
NMJC went 14-for-24 from the free-throw line in the game, but was just 8-for-17 in the second half and only 4-for-13 in the final 2:20 of the contest.
NMJC held a 25-20 lead at the break and increased it to double figures as Criner scored three straight buckets to start the half – the last one coming on a steal and layup with 18:32 left to make it 31-20.
But Wabash Valley (28-7) answered with a 7-0 run capped by an Ellie Fruit three-point play to make it 34-29 with 16:53 remaining.
A de Paulo bucket with 15:14 left broke the streak as the Lady T-Birds didn't allow Wabash Valley to get within a possession the rest of the contest.
"We showed some toughness because we survived," Sanders said. "… We got the nerves out of the way."
de Paulo led NMJC with 20 points and seven rebounds while Robinson had 13 points and five blocks and Kelsey Criner finished with 10 points, four steals and three assists.
Tyshee Towner led Wabash Valley with 23 points – going 18-for-20 from the free-throw line.
Overall, Wabash Valley was 27-for-40 from the free-throw line and actually dominated the glass. The Lady Warriors outrebounded NMJC 48-33, including grabbing 18 offensive rebounds.
