Lady Roadrunners pick up tough road win

Park Hills, Mo.-The 12^th-ranked State Fair Community College (SFCC) Lady Roadrunners women's basketball team picked up another important Region 16 victory 68-62 over Mineral Area College on Friday, Jan. 23 in Park Hills, Mo. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday and was moved because of expected snow and cold temperatures throughout the area.

SFCC (20-0, 5-0 in Region 16) led 14-12 at the end of the first quarter. SFCC extended the advantage to 25-18 with less than five minutes remaining until halftime. The Lady Roadrunners held onto a 30-22 lead going into the locker room at halftime.

The Lady Roadrunners pushed the advantage to 41-28 with about six minutes remaining in the third quarter. However, Mineral Area refused to go away. Mineral Area cut the SFCC advantage to 48-44 at the end of three quarters.

Mineral Area continued to apply the pressure as they tied the game at 50 with eight minutes and 43 seconds remaining in regulation.

Sophomore forward Ellie Buscher of St. Louis, Mo. knocked down a big three-point shot to put SFCC back in the lead. The Lady Roadrunners led 57-50 with less than seven minutes remaining.

Mineral Area was not done yet; they tied the game at 58 with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. Sophomore guard Sophia Edwin of Killeen, Texas answered with a layup to put the Lady Roadrunners back in front. SFCC made the plays in the final couple minutes to secure the victory including a big three-point shot from freshman guard Chloe Reed of Wentzville, Mo. SFCC also did the job from the free-throw line in the final seconds.

Edwin led SFCC in scoring with 14 points. Buscher contributed 13 points, a team-high eight rebounds and a team-high four assists. Buscher led the team with two blocked shots. Sophomore guard/forward Carolyn Foster chipped in with 10 points. Reed led the team in steals with three.

The Lady Roadrunners also earned their third consecutive 20-win season with the victory.

SFCC will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at Three Rivers College. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics