By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Overland Park, Kan.---Tatyana Reynolds (Rogers/Toledo, Ohio) scored her team's first five points of the game, notched 21 points total, and hit key baskets late to give the No. 5 Owens Community College women's basketball team a 90-85 win over No. 7 Cape Fear (NC) Community College in the fifth place game at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Tournament this afternoon.

Owens finishes the season at 29-7 overall and winners of 19 of their final 20 games.

In her final game in an Owens uniform, Reynolds opened the game's scoring with a 3-pointer and followed it up with a fast break layup via an assist from Briana Williams (Stebbins/Dayton, Ohio), who dished out seven assists in her final game in an Owens uniform to break the program's career assist record.  

Late in the third quarter, Reynolds hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to pull her team within four and gain momentum going into the fourth. Then, in the final minute of the game, Reynolds took a pass from Aysah Ingram (Trotwood-Madison/Trotwood, Ohio) and buried her fifth 3-pointer to give Owens an 85-80 lead with 36 seconds left.

Early in the game, following the 5-0 start from Reynolds, Cape Fear rallied, took the lead with four minutes left and closed the first quarter with a 22-17 lead.

Owens managed to tie the game at 24 apiece a little under two minutes into the second quarter on a jumper from Ingram, but Cape Fear scored the next seven points and 14 of the next 16. They led 45-30 with 3:01 left in the half, but the Owens offense put together a 9-0 run and only trailed six at halftime.

It was a 3-pointer and a long jumper from Reynolds that started that run. Jeryn Reese (Mansfield/Mansfield, Ohio) and Ariel Bethea (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.) then hit back-to-back shots to close the run.

Cape Fear started the second half strong, however, and pushed its lead back to 12 with 6:58 left in the third quarter. At that point, though, Bethea converted a three point play, and Owens gradually got itself back into the game.

Following Bethea's strong move in the post, Reese hit a jumper and Reynolds hit a 3-pointer to pull Owens within four. Despite Cape Fear pushing the lead back to seven, Reynolds hit her late third quarter 3-pointer and Reese closed with a layup to pull Owens within two entering the fourth.

Bethea opened the fourth by scoring five of her team's first eight points. Following a missed free throw from Ingram, Bethea grabbed the rebound and hit a put back jumper in the paint for the first two of those five, which gave Owens its first lead since 2:53 left the first quarter.

Bethea then hit a corner 3-pointer off a pass from Ingram to give Owens a 74-68 lead with 8:13 left. Cape Fear answered with an 8-0 run to take a two point lead, but Reese hit back-to-back fast break layups via record-breaking assists from Williams to start an 8-0 run by Owens as they led 82-76 with 1:49 left.

After four straight points from Cape Fear, Reynolds hit another one of her key 3-pointers with 36 seconds left. Despite Cape Fear answering with a 3-pointer on the other end, Ingram hit three free throws, followed by another pair at the line from Bethea, and Owens closed out Cape Fear.

In addition to the 21 points from Reynolds, Owens received 19 points and six rebounds from Ingram, 18 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals from Bethea and 17 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks, two steals and two assists from Reese.

Those four players combined to shoot 28-for-54 (51.9 percent) from the field. Interestingly, each of those four players nearly finished the same from the field as each of them made seven field goals apiece, while two attempted 14 field goals and the other two attempted 13.

Mikayla Ward (Huron/Ypsilanti, Mich.), who also played her final game in an Owens uniform, had a big first half for Owens by recording all six of her points and 12 rebounds in the first 20 minutes. 

Reese, who posted three double-doubles and came within one rebound of recording four double-doubles in the tournament, averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds over four games to earn NJCAA Division II All-Tournament team recognition. 

Cape Fear, who finished its season 27-3 overall, was led by Jasmine Brown, who had 22 points, 10 rebounds, five steals, three assists and two blocks. She finished 6-for-12 from the field and 9-for-11 from the foul line. She was assisted by Chrystall Jerome, who had 17 points, and Desaree Green, who had 16 points and nine rebounds.

Records Broken

Williams, who finished with a team-high 209 assists for Owens this year (17 shy of the single season record), finished with 331 career assists to break the previous mark of 329 set by Elizabeth Harris from 1996-98.

Lakyn Gulley (South Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.) recorded a steal today to break the program's single season steals record by one. The previous record of 102 was previously set by Harris in 1996-97.

Program On A Roll

Owens has now recorded three top 10 finishes in the past four seasons at the NJCAA Division II tournament. The 2012-13 team finished in seventh place, while last year's team captured third place in addition to this year's fifth place finish. In those three years, the team has recorded a 9-3 record in national tournament play.

Furthermore, the women's basketball program at Owens has recorded at least 25 wins in each of the past seven seasons. Over that stretch, they are 196-37 (.841), have averaged 28 wins, won five conference championships and captured three Region XII District I championships, which has helped them to their three top 10 finishes.

Best Sophomore Class In Program History

Along with the aformentioned four student-athletes who played their final game with Owens, Kyra Johnson (Stevenson/Livonia, Mich.), a sophomore forward, played a key reserve role off the bench all season. In the national tournament, she recorded two points and five rebounds in 26 minutes.

The five member sophomore class, which includes Gulley, who transferred to Owens this season after playing at NCAA Division I Cal State Fullerton last year, won a program record 63 games while losing only nine in its two seasons. They recorded 33 and 17 game win streaks, won two Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) championships with an unblemished 28-0 record and captured two Region XII District I titles. In postseason play, the team finished 10-2 and made one NJCAA Final Four and one NJCAA Elite 8 appearance. Furthermore, they were part of a team last year that won a single season program record 34 games, and they own two of the top three seasons in program history for most wins.

Moving On

Along with the six players who signed with four-year schools after last season, Owens is expected to have at least four more players sign with four-year schools this coming offseason, including Gulley, who has already signed with NCAA Division I Southeast Missouri State University. 

Career Scoring Marks

Williams led the five sophomores with 640 career points, which gives her the 28th highest total in program history. Reynolds came in second with 568 points, which puts her 32nd on the career list. Gulley recorded 445 points in just one year to give her 49th on the career scoring list.

Ward came in next at 209 points, while Johnson finished with 113 points.

Single Season Scoring Marks

Reese's team-high 484 points is the 15th highest single season total in program history. Gulley (445, 20th), Ingram (425, 26th) and Williams (424, 27th) also each finished the season among the top 30 single seasons in program history.