T-Bird (WBB) Advances to Region V Semifinal

The NMJC women's basketball team used a monster first quarter to cruise to a 76-66 win over Weatherford College.

NMJC advances to play Grayson College in the semifinal on March 14 at 5 p.m. CDT.

The T-Birds scored 30 points in the first quarter shooting 5-of-11 from beyond the arc in the frame. NMJC trailed 5-4 at the 8:30 mark before the Thunderbirds rattled off a 26-5 run to end the quarter in front 30-10. 

"We talked about how we had to come out and come out with energy," NMJC women's basketball head coach Austin Mefford said. "We had the opportunity to sit in the gym and watch our men play on Wednesday and we knew we had to come out and start the game with energy. I thought our kids really responded well. You know that first quarter, it always helps when shots are falling. I thought just our energy and effort was as high as it could be at that moment."

Cacia Antonio scored seven as NMJC led by as many as 25 in the second quarter with the Thunderbirds ending the half on top by 21 points, 48-27.  

The T-Birds controlled the second half and led 76-56 with two minutes to go following a Jada Graves triple. Weatherford closed the game on a 10-0 run with the NMJC subs in the game to make the final score 76-66.

Jada Graves had a monster afternoon scoring 13 points, grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds, and dishing out three assists. The double-double was the first of her career. 

"Jada was the leading rebounder, and seemed to be everywhere," Coach Mefford said. "Coach Ron Black texted me after the game and said did I read that correct coach that Jada had 13 rebounds, and absolutely he was correct. The way we rebounded tonight was elite, and anytime we can out rebound a team by I believe it was 29, you got a good chance of winning the game."

Sophomore forward Amyah Sutton scored 19 points going 9-of-10 from the stripe. Cacia Antonio came up big for the T-Birds once again scoring 19 points, snatching nine rebounds, recording five assists, and four steals. 

"We've talked about our depth and how important it's been this year, our regulars Cacia and Amyah play their game, but then yes it's different people on any given night," Coach Mefford said. "Tonight, it was Fatime and she hit those outside shots on a night when Nuria and Kaycee didn't hit them. Fatime was the one that stepped up tonight. And next game, it may be the next one or the other one."

Fatime Seck knocked down three triples to finish with nine points. Emma Najjuma pulled down 10 rebounds and Pania Davis grabbed nine boards. Davis was limited to just 19 minutes due to foul trouble and the game being in hand in the second half.  

"There's the downside obviously to Pania not being on the court," Coach Mefford said. "But we responded, Emma played well and got some rebounds for us. Pania got to rest moving forward, having to hopefully play two more games in two days. So now maybe she didn't use as much legs as other people did and we have her a little fresher tomorrow versus Grayson."

NMJC will face a challenge when they get ready to play Grayson for the second time this season. The Vikings fell 78-59 to the T-Birds on Sunday, Nov. 17.

"Grayson is a team that goes in and ties for first in the north," Coach Mefford said. "It was a very competitive conference all year with a three-team race and they go in and tie for first with McLennan. They've shown all year they're 25-6 for a reason and they've got one of the best post players in the league in Kayla Jones. The first time we were able to slow her down and hold her to 10." 

"Our defense is going to be very important. They play hard. They're well coached. They've got some people who can knock down shots. They've got an inside presence. They can pressure you on defense. And we're gonna have to play for 40 minutes tomorrow.

Coach Mefford is hoping that some fresh legs and can help NMJC mimic the same first half magic the Thunderbirds saw against Weatherford. 

"I think we're deeper than most teams across the country for that matter. We've been able to use our depth and conditioning to wear people down over the 40 minutes. Hopefully we can do that again tomorrow. I really played seven deep tonight, and had seven people with over 25 minutes. It's hard to play over three days. Luckily, we were able to play 16 people tonight and hopefully save a little bit of legs for the next couple days moving forward."

The T-Birds shot 23-for-69 (33.3%) from the field, 9-of-34 (26.5%) from the 3-point line, and 21-of-30 (70%) from the free throw line. The Thunderbirds forced 15 turnovers and held the Coyotes to 33.3% from the field.

The No. 1 seed Thunderbirds 28-2 (12-2) face the No. 2 seed from the north Grayson College 25-6 (14-2) in the semifinal of the Region V Tournament in Waco, Texas at McLennan CC Friday, March 14 at 5 p.m. CDT.