Joplin, MO: The third seeded Golden Eagles historic season has come to an end against fifth seeded team in the national tournament the Iowa Western Reivers in a nail biter 63-66. The Golden Eagles battled with the top 5 ranked team in the country in a slug fest the entire game. "This game was a highly competitive one from start to finish with two of the best teams in the country competing at an extremely high level." Stated head coach
Darryl Watkins
The Golden Eagles would come out locked in on the defensive side of the basketball holding Iowa Western to just 12 first quarter points. "Both teams like to get up and down the court and we knew we would have to control this one in the half court and win the extended possessions." Stated Watkins
The Reivers would come out and go on a 11-4 run to start the second quarter and finish the half with a 36-26 lead. In the second half the Golden Eagles would continue to battle clawing back into the game possession by possession cutting the lead to 7 points heading into the 4
th quarter. In the 4
th Rock Valley would make one final push to regain the lead at 59-58, and eventually pushing the lead to 63-60 with 1:24 left in the game. This would unfortunately be the last lead of the game for the Golden Eagles who were called for an illegal screen with 25 seconds left on the clock giving Iowa Western the ball back and leading to a late game foul that would give them the lead for good. "The way this group battled and competed not only in this game today but the entire season was amazing. The historic year we had was not defined by these last two ball games we played here in Joplin. This group has made their Alumnae, Community, and Institution proud of their accomplishments on the court and the way they carried themselves all season long." Stated Watkins
Maya Mitchell lead the Golden Eagles with 23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assist, 1 steals. Rounding out double figure scoring was
Jasmyn Hale with 11 points 7 rebounds, 4 steals and Bre'Nazajah Davis with 10 points 4 rebounds.
The Golden Eagles end the year as the 3rd ranked team in the nation with a program record 34 wins and only 2 losses.
