Lady Roadrunners fall in battle of nationally ranked teams

Poplar Bluff, Mo.-The 12^th-ranked State Fair Community College (SFCC) Lady Roadrunners women's basketball team saw their 20-game winning streak come to an end with a 60-51 loss to the 14^th-ranked Three Rivers College on Wednesday, Jan. 28 in Poplar Bluff, Mo. The game was part of the Region 16 schedule for both teams. The loss was the first for the Lady Roadrunners since last March at the National Tournament in a game against Arizona Western College.

SFCC (20-1, 5-1 in Region 16) and Three Rivers were locked in a defensive battle throughout the contest. The game was tied at 12 at the end of one quarter. Three Rivers led the contest 27-19 at halftime.

Three Rivers stretched the advantage to 32-19 with six minutes and 52 seconds remaining in the third quarter. SFCC would not go away quietly though. SFCC turned up the pressure on the defensive end of the floor to cut into the deficit.

SFCC trailed 44-36 at the end of three quarters. The Lady Roadrunners trailed 51-46 after sophomore forward Ellie Buscher of St. Louis, Mo. converted an old-fashioned three-point play with less than four minutes remaining.

Both teams continued to battle after Three Rivers extended the advantage. Freshman guard Maliyah White of Minneapolis, Minn. brought the Lady Roadrunners to within four points at 53-49 with one minute and 21 seconds remaining but that was as close as SFCC could get.

Three Rivers made the plays in the final moments to earn the victory.

Buscher scored a team-high 16 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. White contributed 10 points. Sophomore guard Zoe Newland of St. Louis, Mo. registered a team-high five steals and dished out a team-high three assists. Buscher added a team-high two blocked shots. As a team, SFCC shot 32% from the field and 12.5% from beyond the three-point arc.

SFCC will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 31 at Crowder College. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics