by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s women wrote win No. 20 into the record books Tuesday with a 106-41 victory over Park University’s junior varsity in Parkville.
It was the fourth 20-win season in five years for head coach Joe McKinstry and the 10th 20-win season in the 45-year history of women’s basketball at KCKCC.
“Twenty wins and 20-2. That’s kind of the standard for wins so that’s pretty good,” said McKinstry, whose Blue Devils were right back in action Wednesday when they returned to Jayhawk Conference action at Fort Scott at 5:30 p.m.
The Blue Devils put Tuesday’s game out of reach in the first quarter. Limiting Park to just one field goal in 15 attempts, KCKCC bolted to a 24-4 lead.
Everyone got in on the fast start as eight Blue Devils scored and eight had rebounds in the first quarter and by game’s end all 10 Blue Devils had scored and claimed rebounds, seven had assists and a half-dozen had steals – along with 22 assists on 35 field goals.
“Our most complete game of the year,” McKinstry said. “While our opponent was not the greatest, we’ve played other teams on the same level this season and struggled. Tonight, we were able to stay focused and do the things we practice. Everyone scored and everyone had at least one rebound and our defense led to a lot of easy baskets. I know the 13 threes are the most this year and we shot the ball well (.500 on 35-of-70).”
Five Blue Devils scored a dozen or more points in a well-balanced attack. Aliayah Myers had 18 points, Brodi Boyd 17, Kamryn Estell 16, Diamond Williams a career high 14 and Tiaira Earnest 12 to lead the way. Destiny Zamudio added 8 points, Jada Mayberry 7, Mercer Roberts 6 and Adoreya Williams five.
Shanea Dinwiddie shared rebound honors with Myers with a career high six while Estell, Diamond Williams and Adoreya Williams added five each. Zamudio led in assists with five with Estell, Byrd, Myers and both Williams chipping in with three apiece. Diamond Williams also had four steals and Byrd three of KCKCC’s 17 thefts.
Defensively, KCKCC forced 25 turnovers while committing 17 and limited the Pirates to just 15 field goals in 64 attempts for 23.4 percent.
In addition to Wednesday’s game at Fort Scott, the Blue Devils stay on the road at league-leading Highland (16-0) Saturday at 1 p.m. before returning home next Wednesday to play host to Johnson County at Academic Success Night.