Game Preview: Defending champion women's basketball program hosts Joliet on Wednesday in "The Nest"
Upcoming DateWednesday, February 10th, 2016, 5:30 PM; Rockford, IL
Probable Starters
#5 Rock Valley College (18-7, 7-2 N4C)PG-Â
Katreelah Steward, 5'4, So., Chicago, IL; 2.7 ppg, 2.8 apg
SG-Â
Brianna Davis, 5'8, So., Rockford, IL; 15.9 ppg, 3.4 apg
G-Â
Jaycee Cleaver, 5'8, Fr., Davis, IL; 9.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg
F-Â
Asia Jones, 5'9, So., Chicago, IL; 6.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg
C-Â
Tierra McGowan, 6'3, Fr., Chicago, IL; 10.1 ppg, 10.3 rpg
6th-Â
Creighton Fed, 5'9, Fr, Carpentersville, IL; 8.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg
Joliet Junior College (13-10, 4-4 N4C)PG- Treanna Perry, 5'6, Fr, Joliet, IL; 7.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg
SG- Jamari McAfee, 5'6, Fr, Joliet, IL; 10.8 ppg, 3.3 apg
F- Juatece McNear -, 5'8, So, Joliet, IL; 8.0 ppg, 3.8 apg
F- Chavon Banks, 5'10, So, Joliet, IL; 13.5 ppg, 13.5 rpg
C-Hillary Dietahin, 6'2, So, Rockford, IL; 10.6 ppg, 13.7 rpg
Joliet Junior College NotesJoliet Junior College is an NJCAA DIII member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) located in Joliet, IL…Head coach of the Wolves is Shaun Sanderson..Last time RVC met up with JJC the Golden Eagles came away with the road win lead byÂ
Brianna Davis (20 points, 6 rebounds) andÂ
Tierra McGowan (17 points, 9 rebounds) in the 80-52 victory.
Rock Valley College NotesRock Valley is an NJCAA Division III member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) The Golden Eagles are 18-7 on the season... RVC women's basketball is in a "Golden Age" of their program having won 3 of the last 4 NJCAA D3 national championships (2012, 2013, 2015) and earning national runner-up in 2014. Rock Valley College is coming off a tough road loss to the #1 team in the country Madison College 73-67. "We didn't play very well and we still had our chances," head coachÂ
Misty Opat said. "We need to limit our mistakes, specifically our turnovers. Our half-court defense has been solid all year but live ball turnovers allowed our opponent to score in transition and put us tough situations."
N4C Conference StandingsMadison College: 7-1 N4C, 22-1
Rock Valley College: 7-2 N4C, 18-7
Triton College: 6-3 N4C, 18-8
MATC-Milwaukee: 5-4 N4C, 13-11
Joliet Junior College: 4-4 N4C, 13-10
College of DuPage: 1-8 N4C, 8-14
Harper College:Â 0-8 N4C, 4-19
(
Misty Opat - RVC Athletics)
Misty Opat is in her 7th year as the Head Women's Basketball Coach at Rock Valley College. Opat has established her program as one of the best in the history of the NJCAA. Her program has won three NJCAA DIII National Championships (2012, 2013, 2015) in the past four seasons and finished in National Runner-Up in 2014. Entering this season, Opat has compiled an overall record of 151-47 (.763). She was named Spalding NJCAA DIII National Coach of the Year in 2015, has been named the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year four times, the Region IV Coach of the Year four times, the District 2 Coach of the Year four times, and the Coach of the NJCAA DIII National Tournament three times. Prior to RVC, Opat accumulated seven years of NCAA Division I coaching experience. From 1999-2002 she served as an assistant coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she also served as the Recruiting Coordinator. In 2000 her UIC recruiting class was ranked 19th in the country for NCAA Division I. Opat also held assistant coaching positions at Fresno State University (1998-99) and the University of Kansas (1995-1998) where in both cases she was also heavily involved in recruiting and scouting. Opat earned an Associate of Science degree from Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kansas, where she was a two-year team captain in basketball and was named to the all-conference and all-region teams in both seasons. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, where she earned NAIA All-American honors as a player. Opat then went on to obtain a Master of Science in Sports Administration from Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas.
