By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Overland Park, Kan.---The No. 2 Owens Community College women's basketball team saw a record 33-game winning streak come to an end with a 74-64 loss to No. 4 Johnson County Community College in a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II national semifinal tonight.
In the first half, Mikayla Ward (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.) gave Owens a 7-6 lead after a back and forth 3:30 to start the game. However, a 15-0 Johnson County run gave them a 23-7 lead with 9:20 left and Owens never really recovered from the run.
Johnson County led by as many as 18 before the end of the half before Owens trimmed it to 14 at the break.
In the first half, Owens shot just 10-for-29 (34.5 percent) from the field. They were 4-for-9 from 3-point range, thanks to two each from Briana Williams (Stebbins/Dayton, Ohio) and Sierra Harley (Africentric/Columbus, Ohio), though. Harley and Williams combined for 14 of the team's 26 points in the first half.
Ashley Tunstall (Huber Heights Wayne/Dayton, Ohio), who had 33 points in the team's quarterfinal win, scored the game's first basket, but went 0-for-7 from the field the rest of the half.
In the second half, Tunstall picked her game up and went 6-for-10 from the field for a team-high 15 second half points, but Owens shot just 1-for-10 from 3-point range in the half.
In the second half, Tunstall (15) and Harley (9) scored 24 of the team's 38 points.
Owens was able to trim their deficit to as few as seven in the final minute, but Johnson County went 10-for-10 from the foul line over the final two minutes to seal the win.
For Owens, Tunstall had a team-high 19 points, along with six rebounds and two steals. Harley added 17 points, six rebounds and two blocks. The next closest player was Kheri Motley (West Bloomfield/West Bloomfield, Mich.), who had eight.
Aside from Tunstall (7-for-18) and Harley (7-for-11), the Owens offense finished 8-for-29.
Erica Nelson (24) and Nieka Wheeler (21) led Johnson County in scoring.
With the loss, Owens falls to 33-2 overall and will battle the loser of the other semifinal between No. 1 Parkland (Ill.) College and No. 7 Monroe (N.Y.) Community College for third place.