Lady Raiders ride defense into quarterfinals

CASPER, Wyo. — The Three Rivers College women's basketball team used a strong second half to turn a four-point halftime lead into a 68-50 win over the sixth-seeded Shelton State Buccaneers in the second round of the NJCAA Division I national tournament Thursday night at the Ford Wyoming Center.

With the win, the 11th-seeded Lady Raiders (29-4) advance to Friday's quarterfinal matchup with Northwest Florida State. That game is slated to tip off at 7:45 p.m. Central Daylight Time.

TRC rode its defense past Shelton State, limiting the Buccaneers to just 33% shooting from the field (17-for-51) and scoring 17 points off of 22 turnovers. The Lady Raiders shot 54% from the field (28-for-52) and also outscored the Bucs 25-5 off the bench.

Three Rivers and the Buccaneers were tied at 18 after the opening period and trailed 25-22 midway through the second period, but closed the first half on a 10-3 run to take a 32-28 lead to the locker room.

That momentum continued into the second half, as the Lady Raiders scored the first eight points of the second half, taking a 40-28 lead on Kaleigh Thompson's jumper just 52 seconds into the half.

Adriana Jones convered a three-point play to cut the Shelton State deficit to 40-31 with 6:24 left in the third period, but TRC ran off seven straight points — five by Laylah Reese — to push the lead to 47-31 with 4:37 left in the period. Three Rivers led by at least nine points the rest of the way and led by 20 late in the fourth quarter.

Thompson paced the Lady Raiders with 18 points, while Da'Kariya “Lia” Jackson added 16 and Reese finished with 10 as 10 TRC players broke into the scoring column Thursday.

Jones paced Shelton State with a game-high 21 points, while Alanah Pooler added 11.

Notes: Three Rivers outrebounded the Buccaneers 28-25 Thursday. … Thompson was 7-for-8 from the field. … Northwest Florida State's president is Dr. Devin Stephenson, who also served as TRC's president in the late 2000s and early 2010s.