W-Basketball: Strong Fourth Quarter Pushes RVC Past Columbus State
In a battle of NJCAA DIII programs, RVC Women's Basketball defeated the Cougars of Columbus State Community College (Columbus, OH) 70-56. The Golden Eagles head into Thanksgiving Break with a record of 5-2 overall.
RVC started hot out of the gates, leading 16-6 after the first quarter behind 6 points from
Jaycee Cleaver and 5 points from Chriseesha Clark. The Golden Eagles took a 7-point advantage into the break (36-29) despite sophomore
Tierra McGowan spending a vast majority of the half on the bench with foul trouble. After a strong third quarter from Columbus State, the Cougars cut their deficit to 47-45 with 8:55 left in the game. Behind a couple timely 3 PT field goals from Cleaver, the Golden Eagles were able to gain separation and come away with the win. Behind strong defense and winning the battle of the board 47-35, RVC was able to offset a chilly shooting performance (33% FG, 32% 3 PT, 57% FT).
"It was a character win for us. Columbus State is not an easy place to play at," said Head Women's Basketball Coach
Misty Opat. "With 8:55 left in the game, only up by 2 and the momentum in Columbus State's favor, we could have definitely done a nose dive and came out on the wrong end of this one. Our ladies just stuck together and made it happen."
The Golden Eagles were led by Cleaver's 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Clark added 12 points while freshman
Emily Cox contributed 11 points. McGowan ripped down 17 rebounds in 21 minutes of play to go along with 8 points.
UP NEXT
RVC has a sizeable break before playing again on Friday, December 2nd at Olive-Harvey College (Chicago, IL). This will mark the 7th road game of 8 total games played thus far in the 2016-17 season.
