Rock Valley College Athletics

Game Preview: Top Ranked RVC Visits Madison College to Finish the Regular Season

2/17/2017 3:19:00 PM

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Rockford, IL - #1 Rock Valley College travels to #6 Madison College on Saturday, February 18^th in a match-up between two nationally ranked teams. Tip off time is set for 1:00 PM in Madison, WI.

Probable Starters

#1 NJCAA DIII Rock Valley College (26-2, 13-0)
PG- Chrisseesha Clark, 5'5, So., Rockford, IL; 8.1 ppg, 4.5 apg
SG- Jaycee Cleaver, 5'8, So., Davis, IL; 14.4 ppg, 3.9 apg
G-  Emily Cox, 5'9, Fr., Erie, IL; 9.7 ppg, 2.5 apg
PF- Anastasia Karaivanova, 6'0, Fr., Bulgaria; 6.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg
C- Tierra McGowan, 6'4, So., Chicago, IL; 20.8 ppg, 13.8 rpg
 
#6 NJCAA DIII Madison College (20-5, 11-2)
G- Peyton Trapino, 5'5, Fr., DeForest, WI; 12.9 ppg, 4.2 apg
G- Megan Corcoran, 5'10, Fr., Madison, WI; 13.2 ppg, 2.4 apg
F-  Jamie Falk, 5'7, So., Green Bay, WI; 6.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg
F- Rachel Slaney, 5'11., So., Barneveld, WI; 25.7 ppg, 12.5 rpg
F- Mackenzie Ripp, 6'0, Fr., Lodi, WI; 6.9 ppg, 4.6 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 picked up a forfeit victory from their first game of the season against Moraine Valley moving their record from 25-3 to 26-2 overall now heading into Saturday's match up... The Golden Eagles are 13-0 in conference play, with their last win coming Wednesday 79-49 over Triton College… Four Golden Eagles reached double figures Wednesday night to go along with 21 assist on 35 field goal mades... Tierra McGowan was the team's leader, nearly missing a triple-double with 20 points, 16 rebounds, and 8 blocks... Jaycee Cleaver recorded 18 points on 7-12 shooting from the field and 4-8 from behind the arc... Freshmen Emily Cox and Anastasia Karaivanova added 15 and 12 points, respectively.

Madison College Notes
Madison College is an NJCAA DIII member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) located in Madison, WI… Head coach of the WolfPack is Lois Heeren... In the first meeting between the two nationally ranked rivals, then #2 RVC Women's Basketball faced a task they have not seen since December 19th, 2016: a halftime deficit... The Golden Eagles rallied in the second half, defeating #3 Madison College... The Golden Eagles were led by Tierra McGowan's 15 points, 17 rebounds, and 4 blocks... Anastasia Karaivanova contributed her best game in a Golden Eagle uniform with 14 points and 10 rebounds... Sophomore Jaycee Cleaver added 12 points.

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 4th leading scorer in the nation at 583 total points... McGowan leads the country in field goal makes at 263 with a 59.9% field goal percentage, which is good to place her as the nation's fourth best... McGowan also leads RVC in rebounding at (13.8 RPG), while 2nd in the country in total rebounds (385)... She has also added 62 blocks on the season, which sits her in the Top 10 at 4th overall.

- The Golden Eagles are also led by second leading scorer Jaycee Cleaver (14.4 PPG) with 402 total points... Jaycee currently has the 4th most 3 point field goals made nationally with (81), while shooting 40.9%... Her percentage lands her 12th nationally... Jaycee is also the 4th best free throw shooter in the nation, shooting 85.9% for the year... Cleaver is also ranked 15th in total assists with 109.

N4C Conference Standings
Rock Valley College: 26-2 (13-0)
Madison College: 20-5 (11-2)
College of DuPage: 12-11 (8-5)
Joliet Junior College: 17-10 (8-5)
Milwaukee Area Technical College: 14-12 (6-7)
Triton College: 11-17 (4-9)
Harper College: 2-13 (1-10)
Wilbur Wright College: 1-23 (1-12)



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 199-57 (.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.