SC Oklahoma News

Jade Millan and Mattie Busby each canned three pointers in a decisive 7-0 flurry midway through the final quarter Saturday afternoon to catapult the Murray State Lady Aggies to a 61-54 win over Northern Oklahoma College-Enid and their second straight NJCAA Region 2 championship.

Now 26-6 on the year and winners of 19 games in a row, the Lady Aggies will advance to the NJCAA Division I national tournament which is slated to begin Wednesday, March 22 at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock, Texas. Murray State will learn its opening round opponent and game time during the tournament selection show slated for 7 p.m. Sunday on the NJCAA Network.

Murray State trailed in the fourth quarter for one of the few times of its current winning streak at 44-43 with just under nine minutes to play. That's when the Lady Aggies went to work, holding NOC-Enid without a field goal for more than eight minutes while taking command.

Millan's trey put the Lady Aggies ahead for good with 8:15 remaining and Busby's three-pointer with 5:37 left made it a 50-44 edge. The Lady Jets narrowed the gap with three free throws but Millan sank another massive trey with 3:12 left and Busby added the proverbial dagger with a shot clock beating, off-balance bucket with 1:22 remaining.

That gave Murray State a 55-47 cushion and the Lady Aggies were a perfect six for six at the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory.

NOC-Enid took it right to the top-seeded Lady Aggies from the start, leading 17-13 after one period before Murray State squared things at 25 going to the half. A 16-13 edge in the third gave the Lady Aggies a narrow lead, setting the stage for the dramatic fourth stanza.

Millan and Busby each pumped in 14 points to fuel the Lady Aggie offensive charge. Reese Webb also reached double figures with 10 points, Lanie Gooch and Briana Knabe scored eight apiece, Payton James had four and Remi Langmaid scored three. 

Original source can be found here