Mesa Community College women’s basketball makes push for another ACCAC title.
The Mesa Community College women’s basketball team makes an end of season push as they play their last five games of the season starting Wednesday as they host Yavapai College.
Seeking their second ACCAC championship title in a row, the Lady Thunderbirds are going into the home stretch of their 2022-23 campaign.
Currently, Pima Community College and MCC control the one and two positions, respectively, in the Division II standing.
Head coach Kori Stephenson knows her team doesn’t need to do anything out of the ordinary in order to earn critical wins down the stretch.
When asked what her team needs to do in order to play their best basketball down the stretch, Stephenson relayed back what they have been working on all season.
“Continue to be the most prepared and the hardest working team,” said Stephenson,”it’s one practice at a time and improving on our execution.”
Since Jan. 18, MCC has gone 4-4 with back-to-back losses to Scottsdale Community College and Central Arizona College, who they had defeated earlier in the season.
Both of those losses had come right after one of the greatest comeback victories for the program against Cochise College.
MCC trailed by 15 points going into the final period. They fought and clawed their way back into the ball game, forced overtime, and were able to pull off the victory, 78-75.
Even with the two losses after their incredible comeback, Stephenson was not worried due to the circumstances those losses came in.
Against Scottsdale, MCC made only 8 of 14 free throws. The Fighting Artichokes made 26 of their 34.
Up until that point, Scottsdale had only been averaging 17 attempts per game, making 11.
Against Central Arizona College, the Lady Thunderbirds had their composure, and ability to bounce back, tested as they trailed by 16 going into the second half.
The second half did not see a momentous MCC comeback as they fell short to CAC, 58-70.
Though the team had lost two straight games for the first time all year, Stephenson knows the drive of her team to get better after performing not up to their standards.
“Everytime we come off a not so hot game, our practices the next day they want to get better. So this whole season they have never been satisfied in practice,” said Stpehenson. The program is extremely familiar with the ACCAC postseason, being involved in every one since 2006-0. In the last five seasons, MCC has won the Region I Division II title three times.
With that being said, this is nothing new for Stephenson and her team.
During this time of the year, fundamentals and getting back into the mindset of their championship traits are emphasized to her club in order to help them play to the MCC standard.
In their final five games, the Lady Thunderbirds play teams they have already faced this season in Yavapai, Phoenix, Cochise, Scottsdale, and Chandler-Gilbert.
MCC was able to come away with victories against all these teams the first time they met, except for Scottsdale Community College.
