LUBBOCK, Texas, March 22, 2023 – The No. 24-seeded Monroe College Mustangs women's basketball team never wavered in Wednesday's NJCAA Div. I Women's Basketball Championship First-Round matchup with No. 9 Shelton State Community College, but they were unable to overcome a strong Bucs team, dropping a 72-48 decision. The Mustangs are eliminated from the tournament with the loss, while the Bucs advance to the Second Round to take on Northwest Florida State College.
Shelton State's Nya Valentine opened the game with a quick three-pointer, and then Tanita Swift made a layup the next time down the court to take a 5-0 lead in the first 36 seconds.
Paetynn Gray then drained a three for the Mustangs to get them on the board. The Mustangs were able to hold the Bucs to just two points over the next four minutes, but only scored two themselves. Shelton State then got it going again, scoring 10 straight for a 17-5 lead.
Emma Wilson-Saltos hit a layup with 26 seconds left to send the game to the second with Shelton State up, 17-7.
The Bucs scored nine straight to open the second stanza to take a 26-7 advantage. The Mustangs got threes from both
Aysia Pink and Gray over the next few minutes, but the Bucs scored five of the final seven points of the half to take a 38-19 edge into the break.
The Bucs opened the third on a 9-1 run to push their lead to 27 points. The lead hit 31 later in the frame before the Mustangs got a layup from
Olivia Medford, and then
Khalia Bryant drew a foul and made both of her chances from the free-throw line. Bryant got to the line again with 33 seconds left and made 1-of-2, but Shelton State's KaLeah Taylor responded with a three. Medford made a jumper for the Mustangs before the buzzer, heading to the fourth with a 58-31 score in favor of the Bucs.
After an early 8-1 run for the Bucs to open the fourth, the Mustangs scored the next six points. After another four for Shelton State, Medford hit a three to kick off a 9-0 run for Monroe, but time was running thin.
Tanae Arnold scored the final point of the game with a free throw, but the Mustangs ultimately dropped the 72-48 decision.
Medford led the Mustangs with 12 points on the afternoon. Gray tallied 10 points with a team-high three steals, matching
Khalia Bryant for the team lead with nine rebounds. Wilson-Saltos totaled seven points with five boards, two blocks and two assists before fouling out in the third.
The Mustangs finish their season with a 16-15 overall record. Monroe qualified for the NJCAA Div. I Women's Basketball Championship tournament for the third consecutive season, appearing at the tournament in Lubbock for the second straight year after the 2019-20 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Monroe has now qualified for the national tournament four times since 2017.
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 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 11 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).
