Women’s Basketball: St. Clair edges South Suburban in NJCAA Division II quarterfinal
By Tim O’Brien For Sun-Times Media March 21, 2013 10:24PM
Updated: April 23, 2013 2:17PM
Up by 20 or down by 20 points, the South Suburban College Bulldogs follow the same mantra:
Don’t focus on the score. Just play your game.
Trailing by 16 points in the first half Thursday night and 15 points late in the second, the Bulldogs went about their business.
“We don’t want to look at the scoreboard,” South Suburban coach Darrell Scott said. “Play the game, keep plugging away, and stick with your defense.”
South Suburban reeled off a huge second-half run Thursday night, but it was St. Clair Community College making one last play in the closing seconds. St. Clair’s Heidi Highstreet hit two free throws with three seconds remaining to lift St. Clair to a 65-64 win over South Suburban in the quarterfinals of the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II National Tournament at Illinois Central College in Peoria.
Megan Majors (T.F. South) led South Suburban (22-13) with 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and a perfect 9-of-9 showing at the free-throw line. Dorothy Taylor (Thornwood) chipped in 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Bulldogs, with Ashley Huddleston (Rich Central) and Shaquala Armstrong (Rich East) scoring nine points apiece.
South Suburban plays Monroe College at 3 p.m. Friday in the consolation bracket. Highstreet’s 14 points led St. Clair (32-1).
Trailing 58-43 with 9:29 remaining in the second half, the Bulldogs got hot. Majors and Armstrong scored six points apiece as part of a 21-5 run, with Huddleston’s fast-break basket, off a feed from Armstrong, giving South Suburban its first lead of the game at 64-63.
At the other end, Highstreet spun to the basket and was fouled, sinking the game-winning free throws. Majors missed a three-pointer try from three-quarters court before the final buzzer.
Monroe College, similarly a loser in the quarterfinals, is the defending NJCAA Division II national champion.
“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Scott said. “If we do that, we’re going to get creamed. We have to play hard and get after it.”
