Lady Indians fall to No. 13 Blinn in NJCAA National Tourney
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com
LUBBOCK, TX - The Lady Indians' season came to an end with a 59-39 loss to No. 13 Blinn (TX) College in the first round of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Women's Division I Basketball Tournament Monday.
The Lady Indians (23-7) exit the tournament as the No. 21 seed, while Blinn (26-8), the No. 12 seed, advances to face No. 5 and fifth-seeded College of Southern Idaho (28-4) Wednesday.
ICC went on a 7-0 run to cut Blinn's double-digit advantage to six points, 30-24, after the first half of play, but the second half belonged to the Lady Buccaneers.
Blind bullied their way out to a 46-33 lead in the third quarter after heating up to shoot 40.7% in the second half to pull away for the 59-39 victory. ICC shot a dismal 19.2% from the floor and missed on all five three-point attempts in the second half.
Ekiya Gray powered the Lady 'Bucs with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Blind shot 38.6% (22-57) from the floor while the Lady Indians connected on a season-low 23.2% (13-56) on the night.
ICC shot 39.3% (11-28) from the free throw line - another low on the season. Blind hit 58.8% (10-17) from the line.
Alontra Tucker (Lamar) led the Lady Indians with 8 points. Asia Partlow (Tupelo) and Marlee Hatcher (Pontotoc) scored 6 points each with Ieysha Mays (Mound Bayou) and Grace Elliott (New Site) both adding 4 points.
The Lady Indians advanced to their third national tournament in three seasons after winning their second-straight NJCAA Region 23 championship last week at Mississippi College.
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Photo courtesy of Joel Moralez/Rapid Shotz Photography