Lady Tribunes cruise past Kirkwood into national semifinals
MCC will face Parkland on Friday.
OVERLAND PARK, Kansas - After surviving a big scare in the opening round of the 2015 NJCAA women's basketball tournament on Wednesday, Monroe Community College came out in Thursday's second round looking to make a statement against fourth-seeded Kirkwood Community College.
The Lady Tribunes did just that, and their reward is a trip to the national semifinals.
Fifth-seeded MCC (28-1) put together a dominant performance against the Eagles in a 59-42 victory that punched a ticket to the final four. Monroe will face top-seeded Parkland College (34-1) at 9 p.m. Eastern Friday.
Facing a tall and deep Kirkwood team, the Tribunes committed to keeping the Eagles from beating them in the paint. MCC packed its man-to-man defense inside the arc and dared Kirkwood to shoot.
The tactic worked to perfection, as the Eagles shot just 24 percent (16-for-67) on the night, including 5-for-26 from deep. MCC also took care of business on the boards, holding a 47-37 edge in rebounds.
The Tribunes jumped on Kirkwood early, opening the game on a 17-6 run that included a pair of 3's from Fannisha Price and five points from Rose Ayala. The Eagles struggled to find a rhythm, but did answer with five straight to close within single digits.
Adre'onia Coleman restored order for MCC with a short jumper and a three-point play. Deja Carroll then came off the bench to knock down a trio of jump shots to help give the Tribunes a 36-26 lead at the break.
Monroe kept the foot on the gas pedal coming out of the locker room, as a pair of Tyese Purvis buckets and a 3 from Kiki Bynes built the Tribune lead to 17 at 43-26.
Kirkwood carved into the lead by scoring the next five points before Carroll hit a pair of free throws to end the run. Bynes and Bailey Hixson then drilled 3's as MCC pushed its advantage to 51-31.
The Eagles had one last run in them, scoring six straight to make it 53-39. But Purvis responded with a baseline jumper and a layup to help put the game away.
Coleman finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds to pace MCC. Bynes tallied 10 points and eight assists, and Purvis added 10 points. Ayala had another strong all-around game with nine points, 10 rebounds, and a pair of blocks.
Price and Carroll finished with eight points apiece.