by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Spotting the No. 1 team in the nation an 11-point head start is not a good idea – as Kansas City Kansas Community College’s women found out Wednesday night.
It was a lethal punch from which the Lady Blue Devils never recovered in a 91-61 loss at Johnson County. The win was the 25th in a row for the unbeaten Cavaliers in what coach Ben Conrad called one of their best games. “We played well,” Conrad said.
The Blue Devils, who had just moved up to No. 5 in the NJCAA Division II poll after an impressive win over No. 6 Highland last Saturday, had given JCCC its closest scare in the first meeting of the two teams, losing 64-60. The loss, which ended a 6-game winning streak, dropped the Blue Devils to 23-3 heading into their final four games of the season. Idle Saturday, KCKCC closes out its home schedule next week against Labette Wednesday and Brown Mackie a week from Saturday.
Johnson County exploded out of the starting box by hitting five of its first starts while the Blue Devils struggled with three turnovers and four missed shots before Arrica Daye finally ended the 11-0 deficit with a 3-pointer with 6:25 left in the opening quarter.
Once on the board, the Blue Devils matched the Cavaliers point for point the next 12 minutes and trailed only 37-27 with less then four minutes left in half. However, the hot-shooting Cavaliers put the game out of reach by draining their final five shots in a 14-5 run that extended the lead to 51-32 at halftime and it was never close the rest of the way.
“We got beat in every facet of the game,” said KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry. “From the very beginning they were the aggressor and set the tone that they were excited to play. They did exactly what we knew they were going to do and should have been prepared. As far as a game plan, we had one. It just didn’t show.”
JCCC, which shot at a torrid 56.1 percent the first half, had five players score in double figures, partly because of turning 19 KCKCC turnovers in 27 points. The Blue Devils were also outrebounded 44-31 and outscored 56-30 in the paint.
Cheyenne North had her 10th double double of the season with 10 points and a game high 11 rebounds for KCKCC while Brie Tauai led the scoring off the bench with 13 points. Arrica Daye added nine points and Erin Anderson eight.
With six days to prepare for Labette next Wednesday, McKinstry gave the Blue Devils a day off Thursday.
“We will re-group and look forward to a tough four4-game stretch to finish the regular season with four games in just seven days,” McKinstry said.
Alan Hoskins is the sports information director at KCKCC.