By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Overland Park, Kan.---Ashley Tunstall (Huber Heights Wayne/Dayton, Ohio) led all scorers with a career-high 33 points as the No. 2 Owens Community College women's basketball team defeated Monroe College 113-102 in overtime tonight to earn a berth in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Final Four.
Owens led 84-63 with 6:47 remaining following a 3-point play from Tunstall and back-to-back 3-pointers from Briana Williams (Stebbins/Dayton, Ohio), but the game was far from over.
Over the next 6:19, Monroe College's Shania Johnson poured in 17 points on five 3-pointers and a layup to spur a 29-8 run that tied the game at 92-all with 18 seconds left. Kheri Motley (West Bloomfield/West Bloomfield, Mich.) responded with a layup to give Owens a two-point lead with 10 seconds left.
Then, without a timeout, Monroe's Aaliyah Mercer pushed the ball up the court and was fouled by Sierra Harley (Africentric/Columbus, Ohio). She would hit both free throws to tie the game with five seconds left. Harley got the ball on the inbounds pass and missed a running jumper from the left side of the hoop as time expired.
In the second half, Monroe made 16-for-18 from the foul line to aid its comeback. However, in overtime, foul shots doomed them as they went 2-for-8 in the extra session. Johnson, who led the comeback, missed a pair of free throws just over 30 seconds in that could have given her team the lead.
Owens responded with a Zhana Randolph (Rochester/Rochester Hills, Mich.) layup, followed by a Demy Whitaker (Notre Dame Academy/Toledo, Ohio) fast break layup for a 98-94 lead.
Aanise Barnes answered with a layup for Monroe with 3:14 left, but Tunstall drove past Mercer for another layup and a 100-96 lead with just over three minutes left. Troniqua Black missed the third free throw of overtime for Monroe on the other end, but made the second attempt to trim her team's deficit to three.
On the other end, however, LaKayra Carlisle (Pershing/Detroit, Mich.) buried a 3-pointer to give Owens a six-point cushion with 2:29 left. Despite back-to-back turnovers, Owens kept its six point lead and extended it to 104-97 when Whitaker made one of two at the foul line with 1:35 left.
Following that, Owens scored its final nine points from the foul line to earn the program's first ever berth in the NJCAA Final Four.
With the outcome, Owens and Monroe broke the NJCAA Division II National Tournament record for most combined points in a game (215). The previous record was 191, which was set in 1992. Additionally, the 113 points by Owens tied the tournament record for most points by one team.
Prior to all the madness, a back-and-forth first half saw Monroe hold a 35-33 lead with 4:36 left. A 3-pointer by Courizma Williams (Hughes/Cincinnati, Ohio), however, gave Owens the lead for good in the game. Starting with her 3-pointer, Owens finished the half on a 10-1 run to take a 43-36 lead into the break.
Mikayla Ward (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.), who closed the first half with a putback layup, started the second half with a jumper to give Owens a nine point lead. From there, Owens continued to stretch its lead until its largest lead, 21, with just under seven minutes left.
Tunstall scored 21 of her 33 points in the second half and overtime. She finished 11-for-16 from the field and 11-for-16 from the foul line. She added 11 rebounds (four offensive) and three assists. Aside from Tunstall, five others reached double figures.
Whitaker added 15, Harley had 14, Carlisle and Courizma Williams each had 12, and Briana Williams had 11. Carlisle added 10 rebounds to give Owens a pair of double-doubles, while Harley added nine rebounds and seven assists.
Monroe (26-9) was led by Johnson, who scored 28 points. Karen Bellamy added 22, while Barnes (18), Olivia Colbert (12) and Mercer (10) also reached double figures.
Owens (33-1), which tied an overall Owens athletics record with its 33rd straight win tonight, will play Johnson County Community College at 6 p.m. (CT) on Friday for a trip to the national championship game. The team's 33rd straight win ties them with the 2011 Owens softball team for the longest winning streak by any program (men's or women's) in college history.
Notes
Tunstall is averaging 29 points and 10 rebounds over the first two tournament games. In her past five games, she has averaged 25 points per game, while producing two 30 point games. Furthermore, with her 33 point outburst tonight, Tunstall eclipsed 800 career points and now has 803 over 63 career games. She is also 21 rebounds away from 600 career rebounds.
You can watch Friday's semifinal here