North has big performance to push Blue Devils past Owens
The Lady Blue Devils (30-3) matched up against Owens Community College (26-7) Thursday night in the Elite 8 of the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.
Early in the first quarter, Owens jumped out to an early lead. The Blue Devils were quick to respond. With three minutes to go in the first, the Blue Devils were up 17-7. Owens would not go away easily, going on an 11-0 run to move the score to 18-17.
With 20 seconds to go, Cheyenne North made a jump shot to regain the lead 19-18 going into the first break.
Early in the second quarter, North took over grabbing virtually every rebound possible, along with her perfect first-half shooting percentage (6-6 from the field). Brooklyn Wagler added 9 first half points and Erin Anderson contributed 4 assists to give the Blue Devils a 40-28 lead going into the half.
Owens came out for the second half looking to mount a comeback, scoring 4 quick points to cut the lead to 8 after a Blue Devil turnover. The Blue Devils were quick to answer when Wagler was fouled on a layup and made her free throw to take another double digit lead.
“I’m especially proud of our resiliency and our ability to answer all of Owens’ runs,” head coach Joe McKinstry said. The Lady Blue Devils held on to their 10 point lead after three quarters.
Once again, Owens tried to fight back early in the fourth but Erin Anderson and Bri Taui would have something to say about that. Anderson scored 6 of her 9 points in the fourth quarter and Taui scored 5 of her 10 in the fourth as well.
“Obviously Cheyenne was amazing and showed that she is one of the most talented players in the country, but we had huge plays from everyone last night,” McKinstry said.
As a team the Blue Devils had an assist on 22 of 31 field goals – a total team effort.
Owens pushed and tried to make a comeback down the stretch, but the Blue Devil defense controlled the game. With just under 5 minutes to go, Owens made a layup, and that was the last field goal they made. The Blue Devil offense stayed on the attack by going on an 8-0 run behind the shooting of Aricca Daye and Sierra Roberts. The final score of the game was 78-64.
Cheyenne North finished her big night with 20 points, 19 rebounds and 7 assists. Brooklyn Wagler had a great offensive night finishing 7-8 from the field, scoring 18 points.
McKinstry said it was one of the most special games he had been a part of in his 10 years of coaching.
The Lady Blue Devils (31-3) move on to the Final Four against Monroe CC (31-0) at 8 p.m. tonight at Johnson County Community College.
– Story from Jason Browar, KCKCC