by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s women got their 10th win of the season Tuesday, an 80-66 victory at Southeast Nebraska in Beatrice but it was hardly a typical Blue Devil performance.
“Kind of a weird game for us tonight,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said, “29 turnovers; our leading scorer Aliyah Myers doesn’t make a single bucket; and we were getting whooped for much of the first half.”
Whatever McKinstry said at halftime worked. Trailing 42-33 at the half, the Blue Devils responded with their most decisive quarter of the season, a 27-5 rampage that opened a 60-47 lead that put the game out of reach.
The win improved the Blue Devils’ record to 10-1 but with little time to enjoy it. They are right back in action Wednesday, as hosts of Hesston in a 5:30 p.m. Jayhawk Conference doubleheader that will be streamed on the KCKCC Blue Devil website.
Despite being knocked from the unbeaten ranks by No. 3 Johnson County Saturday, the Blue Devils dropped only one spot to No. 5 in the NJCAA Division II national rankings.
Five Blue Devils scored in double figures led by Hannah Valentine and De’Jaria Guillory with 14 points each. Tiaria Earnest and Faith Putz added 13 apiece, Lacy Whitcomb 10 and Ikla Elam 8. Mercer Roberts led in rebounds with nine plus six points and four steals while Elam and Myers each had seven rebounds.
“Obviously the third quarter was huge for us,” McKinstry said. “Our defense was tremendous and despite not hitting a single 3-pointer, we still put up 27 points in the quarter. D.J. Guillory was very good for us in the first half and kept us in the game; Hannah Valentine and Mercer Roberts both had great second halves. And despite Aliyah’s shooting woes (0-13), she directed us offensively and collected seven rebounds and six assists so that was definitely good to have. And we still managed to have five players in double figures.”
The Blue Devils were 31-for-73 for 42.5 percent shooting with Guillory (5-5), Valentine (5-7), Whitcomb (4-8) and Elam (4-8) the most accurate. KCKCC had a 47-39 edge in rebounding and both teams were guilty of 29 turnovers. Southeast fell to 9-5 with the loss.