NMJC (WBB) Advances to Play No. 1 Butler in the Round of 16

The Thunderbird women's basketball team advanced to the Round of 16 after defeating Arizona Western 88-81 in a shootout at the NJCAA DI Women's Basketball Championship.

"They just played hard and competed the whole night, and had some people step up," NMJC women's basketball head coach Austin Mefford said. "I mean Zay had one of her best games of the year. Jada was Jada, Maddie played well. It was unique for us. Our strength hasn't been playing inside through our post on the blocks. But this it was, and our post stepped it up in big moments and did what they needed to get us some big baskets in the paint."

The No. 16 T-Birds are set to face No. 1 seed Butler Thursday, March 26 at 10 a.m. CDT on ESPN+ in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The first round game against No. 17 Arizona Western was just as competitive as the first matchup in November that went into OT.

The T-Birds led 20-14 after back-to-back 3-pointers by Madison Wilson gave the NMJC a six-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Kaycee Steinke's 3-pointer at the 3:13 mark in the second quarter pushed NMJC in front 34-26. The eight-point lead was the largest of the first half. 

Arizona Western fought back and closed the quarter on an 8-0 run to tie the score at 34-34 entering the half. 

The third quarter was a war on both sides with each team exchanging leads. The T-Birds and Matadors had eight lead changes alone in the third. The final lead change came with 38 seconds left in the quarter when Azaleeah Oloapu scored a tough bucket in the block to give NMJC a 57-56 lead headed into the fourth quarter.

The score in the fourth quarter was tied at 66 with 6:00 remaining in the game. 

The T-Birds went on an 8-0 run to snatch the lead back highlighted by an incredible sequence by guard Luisa Amaral. The freshman nailed a 3-pointer to make the score 72-66 NMJC and then stole the pass at half court, spun and hit a layup. The play stunned the Matadors and solidified a 74-66 lead with 4:00 minutes left. 

Arizona Western would not go away making five triples in the last four minutes. However, NMJC hit their free throws and built a sizable enough lead to where the Matadors ran out of time on their comeback bid. 

"We had that mentality that we were going to refuse to lose and just competed," Coach Mefford said. "We had moments where it looked like we had a chance to pull away, and they'd catch back up, and then they would take the lead. It looked like they were going to start to pull away. Both teams just fought all night. It was back and forth. It was a great game and luckily Luisa kind of gave us that big burst in the fourth quarter with a three and then a steal. We needed that to get some separation, and we were able to keep that lead throughout the barrage of threes they were throwing up."

It was no surprise sophomore guard Jada Graves led the T-Birds in scoring.

The Amarillo, Texas native put up 29 points going 6-for-15 from the field and an eye popping 16-for-17 from the free throw line. The 16 free throw makes is one off the school record for most free throws made in a game behind Latrice Johnson (17- Jan. 31, 1994). Graves dished out nine assists, grabbed five boards, and stole four passes in the seven-point victory. 

"Well, she was Jada. Jada had 29 points, nine assists, five rebounds, four steals, but she hit free throws down the stretch when we needed it going 16-of-17, and those were huge to seal the game, especially with them throwing in some shots late," Coach Mefford said. "Jada came through as big as she always is, and she just controlled the game on both ends of the floor. She was able to control the tempo to get us to where we want, and knowing we can get a lead, Jada is hard to guard when we can run some clock and get a good shot and create. She's as good as any point guard in the country and we saw that again tonight."

Freshman forward Madison Wilson scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Kaycee Steinke was back in form knocking down three triples to finish with 11 points and seven boards. Azaleeah Oloapu was efficient from the field going 5-for-7 with 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

"Kaycee hit three threes tonight and finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, and those were huge on a night when Z rolls her ankle and plays limited minutes," Coach Mefford said. "Tonight was a step up night for people off the bench. Luisa stepped up. Addie didn't have her best performance, got into a little foul trouble and Zay stepped up. It was just one person after the next stepping up with big minutes for us."

The T-Birds shot 29-for-64 (45.3%) from the field, 7-of-20 (28.1%) from the 3-point line, and 23-of-27 (85.2%) from the charity stripe. NMJC forced 20 turnovers but allowed the Matadors to go 16-for-33 (48.5%) from beyond the arc and shoot 48.3% from the field.

The No. 16 T-Birds advance to the Round of 16 at the NJCAA DI Women's Basketball Championship and will face No. 1 seed Butler Thursday, March 26 at 10 a.m. CDT on ESPN+ in Lake Charles, Louisiana. 

Butler comes into the matchup the consensus No. 1 team in the country compiling a gaudy 32-1 (23-1) record. The T-Birds have had luck against the No. 1 team in the country when they knocked off No. 1 South Plains in January.

The Thunderbirds have four common opponents in Independence, Seward, Fort Hays Tech Northwest, and McCook. NMJC is 4-0 against common opponents and Butler is 7-0. The Grizzlies only loss of the season came in OT to Garden City. 

"They're physical and Coach Helmer's teams are always very physical and they're well coached. They're going to play hard and play aggressive," Coach Mefford said. "They've been the best team in the country through 33 games and we're just going to have to come and be prepared and execute and rebound and match their aggressiveness and take care of the ball. We just need people to step up again."

The game will be televised on ESPN+ and an $11.99 subscription will be required to catch the games live. Live stats can be found here. 

To keep up to date with tournament scores and action visit the tournament results page. The full bracket can be found here.