NJCAA Region IV Div. II Women's Basketball District D
Saturday, March 3, 2018
#5 Morton 14 23 20 17 ( 74 ) 17-15
#1 Kankakee 18 16 23 22 ( 79 ) 22-7
Morton upset bid falls short against Kankakee
(Sugar Grove, IL.) – The fifth-seeded Morton College Panthers gave top-seeded Kankakee Community College all it could handle for three quarters. Then the fourth quarter started. The Cavaliers put together a 14-2 run and eventually hung on for a 79-74 victory in the semi-finals of the Region IV Division II District D Tournament. Kankakee now moves onto to the title game, which they have won 22 times in the last 30 years.
Morton led 37-34 at halftime on the strength of making 12 of 14 foul shots. Kankakee pulled even in the third as the game was deadlocked at 57 heading into the final period. The Cavaliers then went to another gear at the outset of the fourth quarter to take the upper hand. Trailing 74-63 with three minutes remaining, Morton made a valiant comeback. A three-pointer by Morton's Tyra Walker with a minute to go pulled the Panthers to within four at 74-70. Dana Percival then connected on a pair of free throws with 0:50 remaining to get the Panthers within two at 74-72. On the ensuing trip down the floor Morton's Michelle Kusinski was whistled for her fifth foul on a blocked shot and Kankakee's Jasmine Elliott made two shots from the foul line with 0:39 to go. Walker quickly responded, scoring on a driving layup just seconds later to make it 76-74. Another Panthers' foul sent the Cavaliers' Kiara Moses to the line where she made just one of two free throw attempts with 0:23 left. After a Morton timeout, the Panthers turned the ball over and Moses connected on two more free throws to ice the game with only 0:17 remaining.
Mariah Anderson led all scorers with 23 points for Kankakee. Elliott posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds, while Moses also tallied a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards to go along with handing out seven assists and recording three steals. Percival paced the Panthers with 20 points, five assists and five steals. Walker chipped in with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Maya Hobson registered 11 points and Kusinski had 10 in the loss.
Kankakee will play for the Region IV Division II District D Championship next Saturday, March 10 at 2:30 p.m. in Waubonsee's Erickson Hall Gymnasium. The Cavaliers (22-7) will play the winner between second-seeded Illinois Valley Community College and third-seeded Prairie State College. All the tournament games can been seen 'live' on-line at www.GoChiefs.com/RegionIV. For more information on the tournament, go to www.GoChiefs.com. The winner advances to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament in Harrison, Arkansas beginning March 20.