Lady T-Birds: first time NJCAA champs
Rene Gomez
The Lady T-Birds won their first national championship in school history for women’s basketball with an 82-72 overtime victory over Highland Community College (Kansas) March 22 at Overland, Kan.
Sophomores Peace Amukamara and Mariah Willadsen both had double doubles; Amukamara scored 28 points with 12 rebounds, and Willadsen added 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Sophomore Madi Austin contributed 25 points and hauled in eight rebounds in the win which made it 10 consecutive victories to end the 2013-14 basketball season.
Highland took the lead early in the first half, but back to back three-pointers from Austin sparked a 10-0 run for the Lady T-Birds.
Highland took the lead back with 6:00 left in the half, and Mesa responded by outscoring Highland 11-4 to go up 36-29 at halftime.
The first half was an offensive showcase by Amukamara who was 4 of 5 from three-point range and made all six free throw attempts to finish the half with 20 points.
Austin also scored double figures in the first half with 12 points.
Highland fought back to even up and stay close with Mesa, and for a good portion of the second half Mesa maintained a small lead.
In the last six minutes of the half Highland would not go away and Mesa had a tough time getting any offense other than free throws.
With 22 seconds left in regulation, Highland tied the score at 60 with two free throws.
In the second half Willadsen took care of most of the offense making 5 of 6 from the field and knocking down all six free throw attempts with Austin providing additional scoring with 13 points.
Mesa got 13 of their 22 points in the extra period from more free throws, and the defense held Highland to 33 percent shooting to close it out.
The extra time was great for Mesa as they outscored Highland 22-12 to seal the victory and clinch the NJCAA Division II championship.
Amukamara was named Most Valuable Player in the game as well.
“I was relieved that all my hard work pays off and I had a team that backs me up,” Amukamara said
The Lady T-Birds won the rebounding margin over Highland 50-39, and committed 20 turnovers to Highland’s 13.
Another advantage Mesa had over Highland was making 35 of their 41 free throw attempts to the Scotties’ 15 of 21.
Overall the team gets production not just in the box score, but with intangibles from a deep rotation of players and Head Coach Kori Stephenson recognized it.
“I have always said that was one of the secrets why we were so successful last year with so many newcomers is because they never had their own agenda,” Stephenson said.
Mesa’s athletics program has not had a national champion since 1980, and the Lady T-Birds have ended that drought with a season that produced an ACCAC Player of the Year (Amukamara), and a second consecutive Region I Division II championship as well.
In Stephenson’s eight seasons, Mesa has four regional championships, has never finished worse than third in the regular season, and had never been below .500 except in her first year.
Now that a national championship has been achieved, the next big accolade to add to the coaching resume is win number 200 which potentially could happen next season.
