March 28, 2024

Three wins in a row

Southwestern takes down North Central Missouri College 81-70

TRENTON, Mo. – Trailing by four points at the half didn’t damper the spirits of any of the Southwestern Spartans women’s basketball team as they bounced back to topple North Central Missouri College, 81-70.

Head coach Bryan Austin was pleased with the way the Spartans locked down defensively in the second half, including early in the fourth quarter when SWCC went on a 14-point run to go from trailing to leading by double-digits.

“Fourth quarter we just kind of took off,” said Austin. “We made some defensive adjustments. ... C’Anne Hunter and Madelyn Moya and Tina Lair-Van Meter did a great job for us and we got some stops inside and was able to convert those.”

Moya led the way for SWCC with a double-double on 18 points and 13 rebounds. Moya has put together a double-digit point performance in all five games of the season so far for SWCC.

Kayela Willis was right behind Moya with 14 points while Hunter, Vanessa Romo and Jasmine Aviles each put up 10 points in the contest.

Lair-Van Meter contributed 12 points to the Spartans ‘W’.

Austin noted that the Spartans started slowly as shots struggled to find the bottom of the basket. After just 31 points in the first half, Southwestern responded with 50 combined in the third and fourth quarters.

“Great team effort. Everyone kind of chipped in on defensive stops,” said Austin. “In order to win games you have to stop teams from scoring. ... They’ve been doing a great team collective effort of having some good defensive stops when we need it.”

The win marks Southwestern’s third in a row, a streak the Spartans failed to reach all of last season.

UP NEXT – Southwestern (3-2) will travel Saturday to take on Minnesota West Community and Technical College before taking on North Central Missouri College again on Wednesday in Creston.

Staying keyed in on the defensive end will be crucial for the Spartans to pick up another win over the Pirates.

“On offense we may kind of tweak something, but overall we are looking to own the boards and get some good defensive stops,” said Austin.