Lansing Community College's women's basketball team falls short in district championship: 'We put ourselves on the map this year.'
Often this season, Lansing Community College’s women’s basketball team has relied on a strong few minutes coming out of halftime to take control of games.
But in Saturday’s district championship game against Jackson College in Flint …
“It went the other way,” LCC coach Megan Hudson said.
The Stars would battle back to within four points late but ultimately fell, 64-56, coming up one win short of a berth in the NJCAA Division II national tournament.
“As hard a day as we were having … to see how we battled, I was really proud of their grit and their fight,” said Hudson, whose first season as LCC’s coach included a conference championship and a 25-6 record.
Jackson came out in a different defense than the Stars anticipated and LCC struggled to adjust to it initially, Hudson said. It didn’t help that the Stars missed 11 of 19 free throws and a number of close-range shots, making just 13 of 45 field goals through three quarters, before going 9-for-19 in the fourth.
As LCC made its comeback from as many as 15 points down late in the third quarter, freshman Ellie Humble knocked down two 3s, sophomore Alivia Densmore hit another and freshman Peyton Anderson came up with a key stop. She and freshman Ivanna McCollum hounded Jackson’s guards all game long.
Anderson, who finished with 10 points, three assists and two steals, joined freshman star center Kara Bartels on the district all-tournament team. Bartels had 18 points, seven rebounds and six blocks Saturday. Densmore finished with 11 points in her final game at LCC.
Jackson’s Michelle McGee led all scorers with 24 points, making 5 of 13 3-pointers.
Most of LCC’s roster, which includes nine freshmen, is expected back next season, to be joined by six incoming recruits from the area. Hudson said she and her staff told their players to remember the feeling they had Saturday watching another team cut down the nets.
“We put ourselves on the map this year,” Hudson said.
“(After the game) they could have gone home with their parents, but they all wanted to ride home together. Just something simple like that was a testament to strength of the bond the girls had and the coaching staff and how we grew together as a program and as a team and as people. I am so proud of their accomplishments, of course on the court, but off the court and the resilience they showed.”
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: LCC women's basketball falls short in district championship game
