by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College got the NJCAA DII women’s national basketball tournament off to a rousing start Tuesday morning.
Holding Chesapeake College without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes, the No. 3 seeded Blue Devils cruised to an 82-56 win at Pioneer Pavilion on the campus of North Arkansas in Harrison.
The win advances KCKCC (29-4) into quarterfinal round play Wednesday at 6 p.m. against Pima Community College (22-11) with that winner moving on to Final Four play Friday night. Located in Tucson, Arizona, Pima advanced with an 81-79 win over Lake Michigan Tuesday.
The Blue Devils took control of the opener during the final five minutes of the first half and first five minutes of the second half by holding the Skipjack without a field goal and just six free throws in a 24-6 run that opened a 22-point lead.
“Was not aware of that,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “But I told the girls I knew they were doing their job defensively and limiting them to one shot because they had only two free throws well into the second half and they came from my technical; the free throws were on me.”
Sophomores Nija Collier and Kisi Young had big games to lead the Blue Devils. Collier led all scorers with 27 points along with eight rebounds and three steals; Young had a double-double with 16 points (6-of-8), a game high 13 rebounds and three assists.
“Niji came in and gave us a big spark (17 first half points),” McKinstry said. “And if I remember right, Brodi Byrd missed a three on our first possession but Kisi went far and above everybody to get the rebound. Chesapeake has a lot of size and length but right then I knew we’d be all right. Kisi played fantastic and Brodi also played well.”
Byrd, whose first shot was her only miss in five attempts, added 12 points; Lenaejha Evans had nine points, seven rebounds and four steals; and Lillie Moore and Caroline Hoppock scored six points each. Caitlyn Stewart led in assists with four with just one turnover in 21 minutes.
While the Blue Devils knocked down 30 of 63 shots for 47.6 percent along with seven 3-pointers – three by Collier and two each by Bryd and Hoppock – it was the defense that paved the way.
Not only was Chesapeake limited to 18 of 63 shots (.286) and 4-of-19 3-pointers (.211), the Blue Devils blocked nine shots – two each by Lexy Watts, Carson Chandler, Collier and Evans and one by Byrd. KCKCC also controlled the rebounding 45-24 to overcome too many turnovers (23).
Two big runs put the game out of reach for the Blue Devils. KCKCC trailed by four points early and the Skipjack led 15-14 late in the opening quarter before Collier and Byrd drained back-to-back 3-pointers for a 22-15 first quarter lead.
“Once we got settled and figured out what they were doing we were okay,” McKinstry said. “I think we had a few butterflies and were a little nervous. And we’re not a 9 a.m. team; we don’t play games or practice at 9 a.m.,” he said.
Chesapeake got back within four points at 29-25 with 5:46 left in the second period before the Blue Devils put the hammer down for good, limiting the Skipjack to just four free throws the final five minutes of the half for a 45-29 lead.
And that was just the half of it. Chesapeake’s next field goal came at the 4:38 mark of the third quarter – a span of 9½ minutes without a basket by which time KCKCC had built a 53-31 lead.
“I was not really happy at the half,” McKinstry said. “They were more physical and outhustling us on loose balls. We were playing good defense but we needed to execute better on offense. Now we have about 30 hours when we have to do it again.”
Guards Jahnaya Peterson had 19 points and Joneisha Cain 14 for Chesapeake but the Skipjack lost forwards Brittiney Seymour and Ashia Wright on fouls trying to defend Collier, Young and Moore.