Short of winning a national championship, Lansing Community College’s women’s basketball team couldn’t have had much more of a satisfying and storybook finish.
Among the Stars’ only remaining roadblocks in their rise to statewide and national prominence has been Schoolcraft College, which beat the Stars in the district championship a year ago to keep them out of the national tournament and knocked them off twice this season — narrow but frustrating road defeats for LCC — including in the state championship.
It just so happened that waiting at the end of Stars’ run through their consolation bracket at the NJCAA Division II National Championships was Schoolcraft. This time on a neutral court, 600-some miles from their homes. This time, LCC got the best of their nemesis, 59-58, on Saturday, to take fifth place in the program’s first trip to the national tournament since winning it all 30 years ago.
“The girls brought just absolutely amazing energy in both Friday and (Saturday’s) games,” Stars coach Megan Hudson said. “They finished so strong. Obviously, no matter what, (Saturday) was our last game of the season, win or lose, and they just really showed up for each other in a lot of special ways.”
LCC led early against Schoolcraft, trailed for most of the second quarter, and took control for a while in the second half, leading 51-41 in the final minute of the third quarter. Then Schoolcraft began chipping away at the lead, getting it to 59-56 in the final minute.
On the game’s final possession, leading by three, the Stars’ locked down Schoolcraft star guard Siena McNitt, not allowing her to get off a shot and nearly causing a 5-second violation, before Schoolcraft center Briana Young fired up a heavily contested 3-pointer with a couple seconds left. The shot missed the rim entirely. Schoolcraft’s Mariah Scott picked up the airball and laid it in with .9 seconds left, a bucket the Stars were more than willing to give up, still with a one-point lead.
“We were going to give them that 2(-point shot) and not get anywhere near them,” Hudson said. “We played some really terrific defense (at the end).”
The win capped a 30-4 season for the Stars, their third under Hudson, and was a third straight win at the NJCAA National Championships for 7-seed LCC, which fell to Parkland in its opener, before beating National Park College (Arkansas), CCBC Essex (Maryland) and Schoolcraft to take fifth place.
Freshman Alison Farr led LCC with 15 points off the bench against Schoolcraft, making 3 of 4 3-pointers, a day after scoring 17 against CCBC Essex. Sophomore Ashlynn Putman had 14 points and 14 rebounds in her final game for the Stars. She also had 14 rebounds a day earlier. Freshman Georgia Kuyers had 10 rebounds against Parkland and 13 in the win over National Park. “She was an absolute beast on the boards all week,” Hudson said. Freshman Armonie Smith had 15, 13 and 14 points, respectively, in the Stars’ first three games in Hickory.
LCC also won the tournament’s sportsmanship award, in part because of the friendship they formed with Illinois Central’s team, which was staying in the same hotel. The Stars’ showed up at one of Illinois Central’s games in the stands with large Fathead posters of Illinois Central’s players.
“We have 10 freshmen and to (finish fifth) with such a young squad, and our three sophomores that really anchored everything, just to make this run with this group, has been pretty incredible,” Hudson said. “First time our school had been here in 30 years. We took that really hard loss to start — it was like a rude awakening of, you’ve got to be prepared differently. And then just to have the opportunity to keep playing all week was pretty special as well. Each game, we just found different and better energy.”
Putman and fellow sophomores Claire Tobias and Destiny Ochs plan to continue their playing careers elsewhere next year. Hudson hopes to have the majority of her 10 freshmen back. She’ll also add Portland’s Summer Stopczynski and Pewamo-Westphalia’s Elly Bengel to the roster.
“I’m excited to build off that core group,” Hudson said.
Hudson and her staff took the team to Saturday’s championship game, won by Pima (Arizona) over Kirkwood (Iowa).
“That was that was a lot of fun,” Hudson said. “I was really happy to be able to take the team to watch that, because they see what it really takes, and they got to take that moment in and see what that moment could feel like for us.
“So the freshmen that will be coming back now have gotten to experience a lot of things that my previous teams had not as far as playing the regional and what that moment feels like. And then seeing what this is, what it takes here, and the caliber of competition here, is really great for them to not only experience it, but see what it’s could feel like.”
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing Community College women’s basketball slays nemesis Schoolcraft in finale at NJCAA national tournament, finishes 5th
Reporting by Graham Couch, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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