Lady Roadrunners win 19th consecutive game

Sedalia, Mo. The 13^th-ranked State Fair Community College (SFCC) Lady Roadrunners women's basketball team overcame a slow start to defeat Crowder College 83-68 on Saturday afternoon Jan. 17 inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center in Sedalia, Mo.

Crowder shot the ball well to begin the game and led 13-8 with less than five minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Crowder extended their advantage to 26-17 at the end of the first quarter.

SFCC (19-0, 4-0 in Region 16) got it going on both ends of the floor in the second quarter. The Lady Roadrunners trimmed the Crowder advantage to 26-24 with seven minutes and 40 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Sophomore guard Sophia Edwin of Killeen, Texas splashed home a big three-point shot to give SFCC a 32-31 lead with less than four minutes remaining until halftime. The Lady Roadrunners finished the quarter outscoring Crowder 22-9 to take a 39-35 lead into the locker room at halftime.

"In the second quarter, we got out and started pressuring the ball," said Lady Roadrunners head coach Nicole Collier. "The hardest part of where we are at right now is to is to keep showing up and bringing the same energy. The first quarter woke us up a little bit. I thought we battled the entire game and I didn't think it was ever comfortable. Crowder shoots the three-point shot really well. Our bench energy was fantastic in the second quarter."

The Lady Roadrunners outscored Crowder once again in the third quarter 32-12 to widen their advantage. Crowder refused to go away, but SFCC made the plays in the final quarter to secure the victory.

"I was most impressed with our rebounding ability," said Collier. "We were able to out rebound Crowder by 10 and we had 20 offensive rebounds; you are going to win a lot of games rebounding like that. I was pleased with our 20 assists. We pride ourselves on our ability to share the ball. I thought we did a good job of that in the second half."

Sophomore forward Ellie Buscher of St. Louis, Mo. put together her 11th double-double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead her team in both categories. Sophomore guard/forward Carolyn Foster of O'Fallon, Ill. pulled down 11 rebounds. Edwin contributed 14 points and a team-high five assists. Sophomore guard Zoe Newland of St. Louis, Mo. pitched in with 11 points and a team-high two steals. Freshman forward Taylor Wilson of Copperas Cove, Texas registered a team-high two blocked shots.

SFCC will return to action at Mineral Area College on Friday, Jan. 23 for another Region 16 contest. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics