by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
The toughest conference in NJCAA Division II women’s basketball got even tougher for Kansas City Kansas Community College Wednesday night.
Unranked Labette jumped off to a 6-0 lead in the first three minutes and never trailed in dealing KCKCC a 74-67 setback in the Jayhawk Conference opener for both teams.
The loss snapped an 8-game winning streak for the No. 4 ranked Blue Devils (18-3), who resume conference play at Hesston Saturday at 1 p.m.
Winning for the seventh time in the last eight games, Labette (14-7) dominated from start to finish. Leading 20-12 after one quarter and 38-27 halftime, the Cardinals opened a 23-point lead to start the fourth quarter before a 27-9 Blue Devil rally got them to within six points in the final minute.
Averaging 94 points a game, the second most in the nation in NJCAA Division II, the 67 points were a season low for the Blue Devils as well as field goal shooting (.392) and 3-point goals (4-of-14). In addition, the Blue Devils were outrebounded 47-42 and misfired on 16 of 39 free throws.
“This was our worst performance to this point of the season but credit Labette for forcing us into that situation,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “We were not ready for their speed or intensity. They didn’t do anything we didn’t expect. We simply did not match their effort. We finessed instead of being physical.”
Closest KCKCC could get was 14-12 late in the first quarter but Labette scored the final six points of the period for 20-12 lead.
Trailing 38-27 at the half, the Blue Devils cut the deficit to 38-30 only to have the Cardinals go on an 11-0 run. Labette built its biggest lead at 63-40 to start the fourth quarter before the Blue Devils staged a furious comeback.
Despite missing five free throws in the rally, KCKCC closed to 69-63 with 1:23 only to have Labette’s Kyla McIntosh drain a 3-pointer to end the comeback.
Lillie Moore led the comeback, scoring 25 points and grabbing 11 rebounds – both game highs. Kisi Young added 10 points and eight rebounds; Nija Collier 10 points and five rebounds before fouling out but only Lenaejha Evans with two field goals and seven points had more than one field goal.
Fouled 29 times, the Blue Devils made 23 of 39 free throws but it wasn’t enough to overcome Labette’s 20 offensive rebounds nor their 17 turnovers.
“Statistically, Labette has not been a very good rebounding team but they out-rebounded us, especially offensive,” McKinstry said. “We also struggle with the simple things such as passing and dribbling far too often. Our shooting was horrible and yet when you leave 16 points on the board in a two or three possession game.”
Diamond Jones had 15 points, Kymora Westerfield 12 and Upe Atosu 11 for Labette, which had 11 players both score and grab rebounds.