Thunderbirds Advance to the Round of 16

The New Mexico Junior College women's basketball team defeated Dodge City Community College 48-38 in the first round of the NJCAA Women's Basketball Championship. The Thunderbirds have now won six straight games. 

Points were at a premium in Lubbock Wednesday evening as the T-Birds navigated a low-scoring first quarter with a narrow five-point lead, 10-5. Forward Sandra Magolico was the leading scorer for the T-Birds in the first quarter with six points and seven rebounds. 

Sophomore forward Danna Grenald was limited in the first half action after picking up two fouls in the first quarter, which led to her sitting out the entirety of the second quarter. The Thunderbirds kept battling without their star forward in the second quarter and headed into the half with a four-point lead, 21-17.

Dodge City came out of halftime scorching hot offensively. The Conqs went on an 8-0 run to start the third quarter to make the score 24-21 in favor of DC3. The Conquistadors largest lead of the game came at the 4:58 mark in the third. DC3's Paris Santacaterina knocked down a three-pointer to give DC3 a 27-23 lead.

Bianca Juzzo punched back with a three pointer of her own to bring the T-Birds within one point, 26-27 with 4:44 to play in the third. The pivotal moment in the game occured when Conquistador forward Georgia Grey picked up her third foul with 3:06 left in the third quarter.

Grenald would immediately go to work scoring six points in 1:25 of play to give the T-Birds a 34-27 lead. The Conqs tacked on one more point in the quarter to trail by six, 34-28 at the end of the third. 

Dodge City's leading scorer this season Leah Mafua fouled out with 7:05 left and their best interior defender Georgia Gray fouled out with 3:40 in the game. Mafua was the only person in double figures for the Conqs with 10 points. DC3 as a result struggled to make a run during the final quarter without their two key starters on the court. 

"She's (Gray) tough to guard, she's a big post, you know it got us hyped up because she's tough and so when she got in foul trouble it was easier for us to score and for me it was better to score inside" Grenald said. 

The Thunderbirds were in control the majority of the fourth quarter and outscored the Conqs 14-10 in the frame to win 48-38.

Sandra Magolico finished the night with a junior college competition career-high of 18 points, a career-high 14 rebounds, and matched a career-high with 4 steals.

Danna Grenald put together her third straight double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds. The rebound total was one shy of her career-high of 17 set against Clarendon Jan. 30. The Clemson signee recorded eight offensive rebounds in the game and scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half. 

Thunderbird forward Bianca Juzzo chipped in seven points and five rebounds.

The T-Birds shot 18-of-63 (28.6%) from the field, 2-for-13 (15.4%) from the three-point line, 10-of-17 (58.8%) from the charity stripe.

The Thunderbirds defense was stout all night holding the Conquistadors to 30.2% from the field, 16.7% from the three-point line, 2-of-9 from the field. NMJC out-rebounded the Conqs 45-37 and forced 19 turnovers.  

NMJC held their opponent to under 40 points for the fifth time this season and second consecutive game. Wednesday night's 48-38 win was the lowest scoring victory of the season.

The Conquistadors were No. 17 in the country and No. 1 in the KJCCC in scoring with 77.7 ppg entering the matchup with the T-Birds. NMJC came into the contest allowing just 50.2 ppg.

"It was a dog fight, a tough one," head coach Austin Mefford said. "We talked about it all year that we are one of the best defensive teams in the country. We won the game with our defense tonight."  

The win is the first national tournament victory for Coach Mefford here at NMJC. 

"The first of many, there was a lot before me and we're just trying to continue the tradition and keep building on it," Mefford said. 

The Thunderbirds bussed over a contingent of fans to cheer on the women's basketball team. 

"It was awesome (having the fan support), it was a great crowd," Mefford said. "That's one of the reasons I love the tournament being in Lubbock so to speak because it's an hour and forty-five minutes for us to bring some people over. Hopefully they'll be back on Friday, it just makes a better environment, it's great."

NMJC moves to 26-5 overall and will face No. 4 College of Southern Idaho in the Round of 16 at the NJCAA Women's Basketball Championship. The T-Birds will play Friday, March 23 at 1 p.m. CDT in Lubbock, Texas at the Rip Griffin Center.