Lady Greyhounds Win at Three Rivers

1/30/2012

The Moberly Area Community College Lady Greyhounds picked up an important road victory in NJCAA Region 16 play this past weekend with a 70-56 win against Three Rivers Community College. The Lady Greyhounds had lost two straight to the Lady Raiders in Poplar Bluff and four out of their last five before Saturday, a statistic that first year head coach Chad Killinger knew going into the contest.

"Any road win in Region play is big," stated Killinger. "But when you are trying to bring respectability back to a program a win like this one is even more important. There are small goals that you have to accomplish and winning a road game in the Region was one of them."

The two teams traded early scores before Ashley Stevenson scored eight straight points and Morgan Vetter knocked down a three from the left wing to give MACC a 15-6 lead seven minutes into the game. Three Rivers would come back tie the game at 22 and took the lead, 25-24, on a three point field goal by Whitney Mills with just over two minutes remaining in the half. The host teams lead was short-lived as Mykel Boyd converted a three point play for the Lady Greyhounds just 45 seconds later and MACC would eventually take a 29-27 lead into the break.

The Lady Greyhounds would begin to seize control of the game again early in the second half by using a 6-0 run to take a 38-32 lead with 16 minutes remaining in the game and took their first double digit lead, 52-41, on a basket by Kayla Washington with eight minutes to play. Three Rivers would then use a 15-6 run to pull to within two, 58-56, with 2:55 remaining. However, MACC answered with a driving basket by Stevenson before ShanToria Taylor would convert six straight free throws and a three point play and Shanevian Holden would make one of two free throws as the Lady Greyhounds closed the game with a 12-0 run for the 70-56 final score.

“We showed a lot of composure over the last three minutes,” said Killinger. “Even though you work on late game situations in practice it is hard to make those simulations as intense as any real game situation. It was a great step forward for this team to be able to closeout a win the way we did.”

MACC made 11 of 17 shots from the field in the second half while also converting 18 of 26 free throw attempts and held Three Rivers to just nine of 28 shooting in the half. "We did a much better job of attacking the rim in the second half and getting in situations where we had a numbers advantage," said Killinger. "In the first half we were getting open looks, but we were settling for jump shots instead of being aggressive, which was something we addressed at halftime."

The Lady Greyhounds had four players in double figures with Stevenson leading the way with 14 points, to go along with seven rebounds. Jessica Bygate just missed a double-double with 13 points and 9 rebounds, while Boyd finished with 12 points and four steals. Taylor, who scored all 11 of her points in the second half, including nine in the last 1:38, rounded out the double digit scorers for MACC. Holden continued to give the Lady Greyhounds a little bit of everything as she grabbed 7 rebounds and also collected four points, three assists, three steals, and two blocked shots.

MACC received solid contributions from the bench as Vetter finished with seven points and two assists, while Washington had six points and four rebounds, and Shanice Jones had a game high four assists.

The Lady Greyhounds outrebounded Three Rivers 40-33 and shot 48 percent from the field, including three of nine from the three point line, and 71 percent from the free throw line (25 of 35). MACC also continued to do a better job of limiting their turnovers as they committed only 16 according to Killinger. "The stat sheet says 20 turnovers," said Killinger. "But three of the travel calls weren't travels and on one play they clearly knocked the ball out of bounds and got possession of the ball. Our kids are starting to figure out how to play through those things and hopefully we can continue to build on this win."

The win improves MACC to 13-8 overall and 2-2 in NJCAA Region 16 action. Last season the Lady Greyhounds managed to win only one region game. MACC will be back on the floor at home this Wednesday night as they will take on Crowder College at 6:00 p.m. in the Fitzsimmons-John Arena.