By BOB DAVIDSON
Salina Journal
SALINA, Kan. — A strong finish carried Midland College to a 57-49 first-round victory over Volunteer State (Tenn.) in a first-round game Monday of the women’s junior college national tournament.
Midland (27-7), the No. 13 seed, advances to the second round and game against fourth-seeded Gulf Coast State (Fla.) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Volunteer State, the 20th seed, ends its season with a 23-5 record.
Trailing 46-44 with 5:55 left, Midland scored five consecutive points. A 3-pointer by Volunteer State’s Sara Bliss with 2:21 left tied the score at 49, but they were the Pioneers’ last points of the game.
Achiri Ade started Midland’s closing run with a basket with 1:59 left, and the Chaparrals made 4 of 4 free throw attempts the final 22.2 seconds. Volunteer State missed four shots and had a turnover its last five possessions.
“We hit a couple of big shots, and we were able to finally stop them to one shot a couple of possessions in a row,” Midland coach Ron Jones said. “I don’t think we played our best basketball, but at the same time mentally sometimes that first game’s really rough.”
Midland led 31-29 at halftime despite being outrebounded 24-15. The Chaparrals won the second half rebounding battle 24-20.
“(Volunteer State) did a great job on the boards,” Jones said. “They got the ball so deep on us, and we had to rotate on defense and were out of rebounding position.”
Neither team shot well — Midland 38 percent (19 of 50, including 2 of 17 from 3-point range) and Volunteer State 32.8 percent (21 of 64, 3 of 16 beyond the arc).
Meghan Braeuer led Midland with 16 points — 12 the second half, nine the final 6:16. Ade added 12 and 12 rebounds, and Diamalises Rivera 11 points for Midland. Catherine Kruschke grabbed 11 rebounds.
Natasha West had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Volunteer State.
Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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