Pania Davis Records 1st Triple-Double in NMJC WBB Program History, Breaks Blocks Record

Pania Davis finished with the first triple-double in program history as NMJC knocked off Frank Phillips 60-37 on Thursday, Jan. 23.

Davis had an incredible performance of 18 points, 15 rebounds, and a school-record 10 blocks.  

The T-Birds opened the game with a 14-5 advantage after one quarter of play. Offensively the Thunderbirds struggled in the second quarter going 3-for-13 (23.1%). Frank clawed their back into the game to pull within five points, 24-19 at the half. NMJC turned it on in the third quarter shooting 6-for-13 from the field on their way to outscoring the Plainswomen 18-10 to extend their lead into double digits 42-27.

Pania Davis went into the fourth quarter in need of two blocks after recording eight in the first three frames. Davis quickly reached nine blocks when she swatted Solenne Olenga's attempt 40 seconds into the quarter. Davis had to work for her school-record 10th block of the game.

NMJC led 58-36, but with Davis running out of steam Coach Mefford had already sent for a sub with a little over two minutes to play. On her last defensive possession of the night, the sophomore forward leapt and blocked Sa'miya Fletcher's shot from the left wing into the crowd to solidify her 10th block of the game and the first verifiable triple-double in program history.  

Sophomore guard Cacia Antonio registered 16 points and 10 rebounds to finish with her second straight double-double and third double-double of the year. Amyah Sutton ended the game with eight points. 52 of the 60 points scored in the win on Thursday were by the starters.

"We needed one of these nights where we didn't shoot the ball well to see where we are at," NMJC women's basketball head coach Austin Mefford said. "Our two sophomore leaders stepped up tonight. P had 18 and a triple-double. Cacia had 16 and 10 for a double-double. On a night where we struggled to hit shots, our two big players stepped up and had big time games when we needed it."  

The T-Birds shot 22-for-57 (38.6%) from the field, 3-of-18 (16.7%) from the 3-point line, and 13-of-25 (52%) from the free throw line. The Thunderbirds held the Plainswomen to 21.5% from the field and 10% from the three-point land.

The Thunderbirds are tied for first in the WJCAC standings with Odessa College at 5-1.

The No. 2 Thunderbirds improve to 20-1 (5-1) and will compete against Clarendon College 18-3 (4-1) in Clarendon, Texas on Monday, Feb. 3 at 5:45 p.m. CST.