Rock Valley College Athletics

Game Preview: #1 RVC Aims to Clinch N4C Title Outright at NJCAA DII Triton College

2/14/2017 2:37:00 PM

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Rockford, IL - #1 Rock Valley College travels to the Chicagoland to take Triton College on Wednesday, February 15th. Tip off time is set for 5:00 PM in River Grove, IL.

Probable Starters

#1 NJCAA DIII Rock Valley College (24-3, 12-0)
PG- Chrisseesha Clark, 5'5, So., Rockford, IL; 8.4 ppg, 4.4 apg
SG- Jaycee Cleaver, 5'8, So., Davis, IL; 14.2 ppg, 3.9 apg
G-  Emily Cox, 5'9, Fr., Erie, IL; 9.5 ppg, 2.5 apg
PF- Anastasia Karaivanova, 6'0, Fr., Bulgaria; 5.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg
C- Tierra McGowan, 6'4, So., Chicago, IL; 20.9 ppg, 13.7 rpg
 
Triton College (11-16, 4-8)
G- Alondra Chavarria, 5'5, So., Elmwood Park, IL; 16.7 ppg, 8.6 rpg
G- Andrionna Harper, 5'5, Fr., Broadview, IL; 9.3 ppg, 3.9 apg
F-  Taylor Gaines, 5'5, Fr., Maywood, IL; 4.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg
F- Gianna Grande, 5'5., Fr., Franklin Park, IL; 4.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg
F- Taylor Pate, 6'4, So., Maywood, IL; 14.3 ppg, 8.2 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 #1 nationally, remaining ranked as the nation's top team… The Golden Eagles are 24-3 heading into Wednesday's game... The Golden Eagles are 12-0 in conference play, with their last game coming Saturday with a 58-45 win over Milwaukee Area Technical College… Freshman Emily Cox led the Golden Eagle scoring attack with 20 points… She netted 4 shots from behind the arc in the game… Jaycee Cleaver had a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds... McGowan finished the game with 11 points and 7 rebounds.

Triton College Notes
Triton College is an NJCAA DII member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) located in River Grove, IL… Head coach of the Trojans is Kellee Robertson, who is in her second year as Head Women's Basketball Coach... The Trojans enter Wednesday's contest with an 8-12 record overall and a 1-4 record in the N4C... The last time these two programs met up was RVC's "Rumble in the Rock" event back in January, where Rock Valley took home an 86-63 win… Jaycee Cleaver found her perimeter touch, torching the nets for 6 made three-point field goals… She finished with 21 points and 7 rebounds… Despite struggling from the field, Tierra McGowan still finished with 18 points and 18 rebounds (12 offensive)… Chrisseesha Clark put together one of her most complete stat lines of the year with 15 points, 8 assists, and 4 rebounds… Rock Valley College is a perfect 15-0 against Triton College during the Misty Opat era.

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 (20.9 PPG), and sitting as the fourth leading scorer in the nation at 563 total points... McGowan leads the country in field goal makes at 253 with a 60.1% field goal percentage, which is good to place her as the nation's fourth best... McGowan also leads RVC in rebounding at (13.7 RPG), while leading the country in total rebounds (369)... She has also added 54 blocks on the season, which sits her in the Top 10 at fourth overall.

- The Golden Eagles are also led by second leading scorer Jaycee Cleaver (14.2 PPG) with 384 total points... Jaycee currently has the 4^th most 3 point field goals made nationally with (77), while shooting 40.5%... Her percentage lands her 13th nationally... Jaycee is also the fourth best free throw shooter in the nation, shooting 85.9% for the year... Cleaver is also ranked fourteenth in total assists with 106.

N4C Conference Standings
Rock Valley College: 24-3 (12-0)
Madison College: 19-5 (10-2)
College of DuPage: 11-11 (8-4)
Joliet Junior College: 17-10 (7-5)
Milwaukee Area Technical College: 13-12 (5-7)
Triton College: 11-16 (4-8)
Harper College: 2-13 (1-10)
Wilbur Wright College: 1-22 (1-11)



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 198-57 (.776). 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.