Rock Valley College Athletics

Game Preview: #2 RVC Hosts Milwaukee Tech to Kick Off Four Game Home Stand

1/17/2017 5:37:00 PM

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Rockford, IL - #2 RVC Women's Basketball hosts Milwaukee Area Technical College on Wednesday, January 18th. Tip off is set for 5:30 PM in the Physical Education Center.

Probable Starters

#2 NJCAA DIII Rock Valley College (17-3, 4-0)
PG- Chrisseesha Clark, 5'5, So., Rockford, IL; 7.6 ppg, 4.0 apg
SG- Jaycee Cleaver, 5'8, So., Davis, IL; 14.7 ppg, 4.2 apg
G-  Emily Cox, 5'9, Fr., Erie, IL; 9.1 ppg, 2.3 apg
PF- Madison Vencincio, 6'0, Fr., Loves Park, IL; 1.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg
C- Tierra McGowan, 6'4, So., Chicago, IL; 20.5 ppg, 13.0 rpg
 
Milwaukee Area Technical College (12-7, 2-2)
G- Brittany Kattenberg, 5'7, So., Poynette, WI; 12.8 ppg, 4.2 apg
G- Jermisisha Booker, 5'6, So., Milwaukee, WI; 4.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg
F-  Daniela Moore, 5'7, So., Racine, WI; 5.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg
F- Nwoye Green, 5'8., So., Kenosha, WI; 12.9 ppg, 9.2 rpg
F- Tara Jefferson, 6'0, So., Milwaukee, WI; 14.5 ppg, 12.5 rpg
 
Game Notes
Rock Valley is an NJCAA Division III member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C)… In the latest NJCAA DIII Poll, the Golden Eagles checked in at #2 nationally, maintaining their spot from the poll before… The Golden Eagles are 17-3 heading into Wednesday's game... The Golden Eagles are off to a 4-0 record in conference play, coming off of a 64-46 win on the road against College of DuPage Saturday afternoon... The Golden Eagles were led by a three-headed monster of Tierra McGowan, Emily Cox, and Jaycee Cleaver scored 58 of #2 RVC's 64 points... McGowan led the way with 24 points on 11-18 FG... She also contributed 9 rebounds... Cox added 19 points and 6 rebounds of her own while Cleaver just missed a double-double with 15 points and 9 rebounds... She also added a team-high 6 assists.

Milwaukee Area Technical College Notes
Milwaukee Area Technical College is an NJCAA DIII member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) located in Milwaukee, WI... The Stormers are 12-7 on the season overall and 2-2 in N4C play, and are led by head coach Randy Casey. During the 2015-2016 season Rock Valley was 2-1 against the Stormers. Splitting regular season games losing at MATC 82-67 and winning a home meeting Rock Valley jumped out to a 43-18 halftime lead en route to the convincing 68-50 victory. The finale between the two teams would not disappoint either, it was a battle to the end with the host school of the Region 4 tournament but the Golden Eagles prevailed with a 59-56 victory to book their ticket to the Region Championship game.

Individual and Team Stats
*Note: The NJCAA DIII level is represented by over 100 plus women's basketball teams across the United States.

-The Golden Eagles are led by Tierra McGowan, who is the leading scorer on the team (20.5 PPG) and sitting as the 4^th leading scorer in the nation at 409 total points... McGowan leads the country in field goal makes at 190 with a 66.4% field goal percentage, which is good to place her as the nation's second best in field goal percentage... Tierra also leads RVC in rebounding at (13.0 RPG), while leading the country in total rebounds (256)... Tierra is also chimes in with 30 blocks on the season, which sits her right outside the top 10 at the 11^th overall.

-The Golden Eagles are also led by second leading scorer Jaycee Cleaver (14.7 PPG) with 293 total points, which lands her as the nation's 14^th leading scorer... Jaycee is leading the nation in 3 point field goals made (57), while shooting 41.6%... Her percentage leads her 12th nationally... Jaycee is also the 2^nd best free throw shooter in the nation, shooting 85.3% for the year... Cleaver is also ranked 7th in total assists (84).

N4C Conference Standings
Rock Valley College: 17-3 (4-0)
Madison College: 14-3 (4-0)
Joliet Junior College: 12-7 (2-2)
Milwaukee Area Technical College: 12-7 (2-2)
College of DuPage: 4-10 (2-2)
Triton College: 8-11 (1-3)
Harper College: 2-12 (1-3)
Wilbur Wright College: 0-15 (0-4)



Misty Opat is in her 8th 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 186-57 (.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.