OVERLAND PARK — Johnson County Community College’s Lady Cavaliers ran away from visiting Allen County Community College’s Red Devils Saturday afternoon. The Lady Cavaliers, ranked No. 2 in NJCAA Division II, posted a 79-38 Jayhawk Eastern Division win.
“Two things were missing on Saturday — depth and legs,” said Sacha Santimano, ACCC women’s head coach. “Johnson ran and ran and ran on us. From tip until the buzzer sounded, they ran.”
Allen County fell behind quickly and faced a 42-14 halftime deficit. Johnson County outscored the Red Devils 37-24 in the second half.
Santimano said the Red Devils had trouble stopping Johnson County’s transition game and put the Lady Cavaliers on the free-throw line way too much. The Lady Cavaliers cashed in 18 of 27 free throw attempts while the Red Devils went 4 of 8 at the line.
“Offensively, we got all the shots we wanted but every single one of them was contested,” Santimano said. “I credit Johnson on their defense and execution. They play in a system where everyone knows what they are supposed to do and they do it perfectly.”
Queona Walker fired in 15 points for the Red Devils and Maurissa Shaffer had nine. No one else scored over four points. Allen County shot 23 percent, 15 of 64, from the field.
Johnson County had four players score in double figures, led by Taylor Bird with 16 points. Becky Newhouse, who had four three-pointers, added 15 points and Amy Briggs had 14 points. Mary Pat Specht scored 10 points. JCCC shot 43 percent, 26 of 60, from the field.
Danielle Best grabbed six rebounds for Allen County. Nicole Swick and Aeriss McNeese each had five rebounds. Walker pulled five rebounds and dished out four assists. Allen County had 16 turnovers.
“It was a hard day for us. I told our girls they had 46 hours to put it behind them and be ready to go for practice on Monday,” Santimano said. “It’s time to go back to work for us to get better every day.”
Allen County is 1-13 in Jayhawk East and 3-22 overall. Johnson County is 10-4 and 22-4.
On Wednesday, Allen County hosts Labette (5-9, 8-18) and then has its final home game Saturday against Cowley County. Tipoff is at 6 o’clock both nights at ACCC gym.
Allen County (14-24—38) (FG/3-pt): Shaffer 3/1-0-1-9, Walker 4/2-1-0-15, Shields 0-0-1-0, Wolf 0-0-2-0, Swick 0-0-1-0, Goldson 2-0-4-4, Best 0-1-0-1, McNeese 1-0-3-2, Johnson 1-2-4-4, Nisbett 0/1-0-2-3. TOTALS: 11/4-4-18-38.
Johnson County (42-37—79) (FG/3-pt): Bird 5-6-0-16, Hollingworth 2/1-1-2-8, Brown 0-0-2-0, Specht 2/2-0-2-10, Kearney 2-0-0-4, Briggs 1/2-6-1-14, Newhouse 1/4-1-0-15, Cooper 0-1-1-1, Ingalsbe 3-2-1-8, Smith 1-1-0-3. TOTALS: 17/9-18-9-79.
No. 2 Lady Cavaliers run past Red Devils
