LUBBOCK, Texas, March 16, 2022 – Making the team's second-ever appearance at the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Tournament, the No. 24-seeded Monroe College Mustangs women's basketball team fell to No. 9 seed South Georgia Technical College, 77-26, Wednesday afternoon in a First-Round matchup at the Rip Griffin Center on the campus of Lubbock Christian University. South Georgia Tech moves on to take on No. 8 Arizona Western College on Thursday in the Second Round, while the Mustangs are eliminated from championship contention.
It was a tough start for the Mustangs, who had not played in nearly a month. The Jets stormed out to a 10-0 lead before the Mustangs made their first bucket, a jumper by
Olivia Medford with 6:52 left in the first quarter. The scoring slowed down on both ends, seeing the Jets make a basket nearly two minutes later, and another 100 seconds went by before a
Naomi Barnwell layup made it a 12-4 game with 3:21 to go. South Georgia Tech tallied the next nine points to take a 21-4 advantage, but Barnwell laid one in right before the end of the period to leave the Mustangs down, 21-6, after the first.
The Jets scored the first three points of the second quarter, but the Mustangs responded with five straight points to make it a 24-11 score with 6:45 left in the half. South Georgia Tech came back with 10 in a row before Barnwell sank a jumper. The Jets then closed out the half with its final eight points to take a 42-13 advantage at the break.
Barnwell scored a team-high nine points in the opening half on Wednesday, adding two blocks and a steal. Medford led the team with four rebounds through 20 minutes, while
Daja Wentz pulled down three boards herself.
The second half started off much like the first, with the Jets scoring the first nine points to take a 51-13 lead.
Amy Sangare got in on the action with back-to-back layups after that. Later in the third,
Aysia Pink got to the line and made both of her chances, while Wentz later sank a three. The Jets closed out the third with a 64-22 edge.
South Georgia Tech kept the pressure on in the fourth quarter. The Jets went on to outscore the Mustangs, 13-4, to claim a 77-26 victory.
Barnwell finished with nine points, two blocks, two steals and four rebounds in Wednesday's game. Pink totaled six points. Sangare scored five with a team-high eight rebounds.
Wednesday's defeat marks the end of the season for the Mustangs, who appeared in the NJCAA Div. I Women's Basketball Championships for the first time since 2017, Monroe's first year competing at the Division I level. The Mustangs claimed the Northeast District Championship and Region 15 Championship for the second straight season (did not play in 2020-21).
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 35 teams competing across nine sports. There are 21 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as the Monroe College marching band, and the newly added esports and men's volleyball programs, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 14 teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at
www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (
Monroe Mustangs Athletics), Twitter (
@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (
@monroemustangs).
