by The Pima Community College women’s basketball team (23-12) extended its season for one more game as it dropped 110 points on Thursday in an NJCAA Division II tournament consolation game.
- One day after falling to Kansas City (KS) Community College in the quarterfinals, the No. 6 seeded Aztecs responded with a 110-90 upset win over No. 2 North Iowa Area Community College (28-7). They will play one final game on Saturday in the fifth place match-up. The Aztecs fell seven points short of breaking an NJCAA Division II tournament single game scoring record.
- The Aztecs held the lead for the entire game. Freshman Alyssa Perez (Marana HS) ended the first quarter scoring a three-pointer to give the Aztecs a 23-15 lead. Pima took their first double digit lead at 38-26 mid-way through the second quarter. The Aztecs closed out the first half on a 15-7 run to take a 53-37 advantage.
- The Aztecs led by as much as 24 points at 88-64 with 9:43 left in the fourth quarter and led by double digits the entire second half.
- Sophomore Shauna Bribiescas (Navajo) led the Aztecs with her 13th double-double as she finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds. She went 9 for 12 from the field and 5 for 7 from long range. Freshman Hallie Lawson went 11 for 16 from the field and scored 22 points.
- “I went out and had confidence in myself as well as the team and I just got open,” Lawson said. “Everyone was in the moment and just enjoying every single thing that we can get because we know next year some of these players won’t be back. We got to savor every moment.”
- The Pima bench scored 34 points. Perez finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists while freshman Haile Gleason (Navajo) also contributed with 15 points on 5 for 8 shooting and 3 for 6 from three-point range.
- “Last game’s loss we took it hard and this game we focused on bouncing back and making sure we did everything we could to get this win,” Gleason said. “This game gave us the confidence back that we needed. Me and AP (Perez) shot really good and were aggressive off the bench.”
- Sophomore Jacqulynn Nakai (Navajo) fell two assists short of a triple double as she finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Fellow sophomore RyLeigh Long had 11 points and four assists.
- The Aztecs shot 57.5 percent (46 for 80) from the field as a team and out-rebounded the Trojans 46-25. The Aztecs also had 24 assists.
The Aztecs will play in the fifth place game on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. (CT); 12:00 p.m. (MST).
