Lady T-Birds Wrangle Win from Odessa

EDUARDO MIRANDA  -  NEWS-SUN
December 8, 2019

EDUARDO MIRANDA/NEWS-SUN
NMJC guard Mayra Caicedo is fouled going for a layup in the first quarter against Odessa College. The Lady Thunderbirds defeated the Lady Wranglers 72-70 to improve to 2-0 in WJCAC play.

EDUARDO MIRANDA/NEWS-SUN

Lady Thunderbird Dawnyel Lair soars past the defense for an easy layup. Lair finished with a team high 21 points and eight rebounds in the win.

Effort and desire led the New Mexico Junior College women's basketball team to complete a comeback win over Western Junior College Athletic Conference rival Odessa College, Saturday in Caster Activity Center.

The Lady Thunderbirds erased an 11-point deficit in the final 7 minutes of regulation, and defeated the Lady Wranglers 72-70. It was a much different performance from NMJC compared to the Lady Thunderbirds' win over Western Texas College earlier in the week. The Lady T-Birds improved to 9-4 overall and 2-0 in conference before heading into the Christmas break. NMJC head coach Drew Sanders was proud of his team's performance.

"Our kids played hard and they played hard the whole game," he said. "Dawnyel Lair played unbelievable. We got production out of the post in Zaria (Dorsey), but the primary thing was we executed and we were focused for the whole game.

"We made some mental mistakes that kept them in it, but when they got up by six or eight, we kept plugging. At the end I think it came down to we wanted it more. I just hope it becomes a habit and that we start playing with that consistency and effort and focus and concentration."

The Lady T-Birds had three starters score in double digits and had one more double-digit scorer off the bench. Lair led the team in scoring with 21 points and grabbed eight boards. Starters Dorsey finished with 13 points and eight rebounds and former Lady Eagle Amaya Lewis added 12 points and team high three assists. Off the bench, Mayra Caicedo added a spark of 13 points with team high nine steals, which helped fuel the comeback for NMJC.

The Lady T-Birds trailed most of the game, falling behind 17-15 in the first, 36-28 after two, and 52-48 after three quarters of play. The NMJC players never dropped their heads and continued to execute the offense and played a strong full court press and trap. It led to the Lady T-Birds evening the game at 54-54 with 7 minutes and 10 seconds left in the game. It was a much different approach than the first half when Odessa College was able to create a few open threes in the corner and beat the press with sharp passes that resulted in an easy layup.

The home team tightened its pressure in the press and forced turnovers. On numerous occasions, Odessa College just made it pass the half court line to beat the 10 second count. The rotation became sharper and the Lady Thunderbirds began to contest what earlier in the game were open shots for the Lady Wranglers.

"Defensively we played really well," Sanders said. "We got beat on the press, but the press kept them out of their half court offense and using their bigs on us. They had a bunch of bigs.

"Most of their threes came on breakdowns coming out of the press or us not getting matched up properly, Sanders continued. "But, when we where set up in the half court offense, they got very few good threes. And some where end of the clock type threes."

With the game tied at 54-54, Caicedo made a quick pass to Lair for an uncontested layup, and the first Lady T-Bird lead at 56-54. Caicedo put NMJC up by four when she drove to the elbow made a quick stop that left her open for an easy mid range shot. After grabbing a defensive rebound, Selina Dockery was fouled trying to attack the post. She would hit one of two free throws after a lane violation was called on NMJC. Dockery would reach the charity stripe after being fouled on a steal and she would hit both to put the Lady T-Birds up 61-54. Lair would extended the lead to 61-54 after she scored on a hustle play coming off her first shot attempt was blocked.

Odessa College ended a four-minute scoreless run on a three pointer by Sofia Persson, and Yanina Todorova added another point from the free throw line. Caicedo used her speed to attack the paint and got the basket and foul. After hitting her free throw the lead was 66-59 with 2:42 left in the game. The Lady Wranglers would cut the deficit to four on a three from Okako Adika, and a Todorova layup cut the NMJC lead to 66-64 with 1:19 on the clock. Lair would give the Lady Thunderbirds a cushion after complete a three-point play, but Odessa College would go down the court and complete a its own three-point play, and the foul would be called on Lair for her fifth of the game.

Caicedo responded by again going down the middle of the lane for a layup and a 71-67 lead. Dorsey fouls Odessa's Jenyff Moura on the ensuing play on a three-pointer attempt; she hit two of the three free throws. On the rebound following the missed free throw, Lewis and an Odessa player both grabbed the ball and fell to the floor resulting in a jump ball call. After the call, Moura jumped down on top of Lewis resulting in skirmish and personal foul and a flagrant one on NMJC Ebony Horton. Both teams would go one for two at the line and NMJC led 72-70 after the Odessa miss. The flagrant one call gave Odessa the ball, but the out of bounds play resulted in a steal by Caicedo who then made the pass to Lewis to run down the clock for the win.

"I have been sending messages, sitting people and benching people to get them to understand how hard they have to play and focus," Sanders said on what he hopes his team took from the win. "Hopefully this was a positive learning experience. The other thing is they played hard and had fun, and that's the big thing. If you play hard like that and having fun, it makes it easier to comeback and do that again. Hopefully this was that jump start."

UP NEXT

NMJC vs. Northwest

Florida State College

Wednesday, Jan.1, TBA