LCC women’s basketball team competes in national tournament for first time since 1996

By Emmett Roman
Staff Reporter

LCC’s women’s basketball team is wrapping up its final games this week in the National Junior College Athlete Association (NJCAA) Division II tournament after a knock-out season. During their conference games, the team went undefeated, winning all 12 games.

The Stars entered the Michigan Community College Athletics Association (MCCAA) championship semifinals with only two losses the entire season. They won that Feb. 27 game against Mid Michigan College 67-64, advancing them to the MCCAA final.

MCCAA Championship Final

The Stars faced off against the Schoolcraft College Ocelots for the championship game the next day. The Ocelots maintained a lead over the Stars until nearly halfway through the first quarter, when Destiny Ochs #0 banked a three-point jump shot to pull the Stars ahead, 8-7. She followed up with a made free throw to increase the Stars’ gain over the Ocelots, but the team was overtaken after the Ocelots scored on 4 free throws. The teams ended the first quarter 13-17.

The Stars continued to trail the Ocelots for the majority of the second quarter until the last three seconds of the half when Ochs again banked a three-pointer to pull the Stars ahead. The Stars went into halftime up 31-29.

That lead was maintained thanks to the team’s collective efforts for the majority of the third quarter. Several fouls from Schoolcraft enabled the team to flex their ability to make their free throws, which kept the Stars in the lead with 47 points.

About halfway through the fourth quarter, though, a pivotal steal from Mid Michigan’s Siena McNitt and pass to Riley Abney for a layup opened the door for the Ocelots to overtake the Stars. Despite three 3-pointers from Claire Tobias at key moments, the Stars lost the championship title game 74-69.

Great Lakes District A Tournament

However, that wasn’t the end for the Stars. The next week, the team entered Ballenger Fieldhouse at Mott Community College in Flint for the Great Lakes District A—LCC’s district in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)—semifinal game against Delta College. The Stars blew Delta out of the water in a 102-44 win.

The team faced off Jackson College in the district final game two days later on March 8. Ashlynn Putman started the game off on the right foot by making a layup in the first minute, and the Jets continued to trail for the remainder of the game. In the 94-60 win over Jackson, Armonie Smith led the team in goals with an astonishing 25 points and eight rebounds, resulting in her being awarded Most Valuable Player for the game.

After the game, the Stars accepted the Division Champions plaque and celebrated, because they were headed to the national championship tournament for the first time since 1996.

NJCAA Tournament

After the win in Flint, the Stars journeyed south to Hickory, North Carolina, for the NJCAA Division II tournament. Their first-round game was on March 17 against Parkland College—an opponent they had met and won against in the Palm Beach Classic last December.

However, this win was not meant to be. Though the Stars started the game strong, they were behind by the end of the first quarter and never quite caught up. The game resulted in an 84-63 loss.

With that, the Stars moved into the consolation bracket with their game last night against National Park College. Again, the team started off the game strong, earning seven points before National Park scored a single basket. Those early points gave the Stars an edge through the rest of the game. Though the race was tight, the team won the game 68-62.

The Stars next play CCBC Essex at 2 p.m. tomorrow, March 20, in the next round of the consolation bracket. Live stats will be available on the LCC athletics site.