T-Bird (WBB) Falls in Region V Quarterfinal

The NMJC women's basketball team fell 84-77 to Grayson College in the first round of the Region V Tournament on Wednesday, March 11. 

The Thunderbirds were locked in a tight contest in the first half trailing by one point, 33-32, at the break. 

Grayson pushed their lead up to seven, 48-41, with 3:49 to go in the third quarter. Jada Graves hit a layup with 1:38 remaining in the period to pull NMJC back within two points. The Vikings moved the lead to 55-50 at the end of the third quarter.

The T-Birds trailed by 14 points, 74-60, with under 4:00 to go in the game. Two free throws by Graves, a layup by Graves, and a steal by Madison Wilson led to another layup made for NMJC. Wilson snatched a steal again and kicked it out for a 3-pointer to Zarai Lewis which brought the NMJC deficit to six points, 74-68, with 3:00 left in the game.

Luisa Amaral closed the gap to one possession, 80-77, with a 3-pointer at the 10.3 second mark. The Vikings hit their free throws the rest of the way and NMJC fell to the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference No. 1 seed in Round 1 of the Region V Tournament in Odessa, Texas.

"Give it to Grayson they did a good job defensively," NMJC women's basketball head coach Austin Mefford said. "We made uncharacteristic plays throughout the game. Had some turnovers at costly moments that didn't help us. The big difference was at the FT line where they shot a season best and we missed a lot of opportunities for points." 

Jada Graves finished the evening with 19 points, 12 assists, and seven rebounds. Graves struggled from the stripe going 3-for-9. Zarai Lewis was the other starter in double figures with 11 points.

Madison Wilson came off the bench and scored 17 points. The freshman added four rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Luisa Amaral recorded 15 points and four rebounds in the loss. 

The T-Birds shot 30-for-64 (46.9%) from the field, 9-of-32 (28.1%) from the 3-point line, and 8-of-17 (47.1%) from the charity stripe. NMJC forced 18 turnovers.

The No. 12 Thunderbirds fall to 23-6 (10-4) on the year and will await their fate for the NJCAA DI Women's Basketball Championship tournament. NMJC has made the tournament in six consecutive seasons. The selection show is Monday, March 16 at 3 p.m. MDT on the NJCAA Network.

The NJCAA DI Women's Basketball Championship tournament will be held at Townsley Law Arena in Lake Charles, Louisiana March 24-31.