SALINA, Kan. — For the first time this week, Gulf Coast wasn’t looking over its shoulder in the second half.
Even if the Lady Commodores were, Jefferson College was too far behind to see.
Gulf Coast put together its best all-around game of the NJCAA National Tournament on Saturday night to win the school’s third national championship, 83-61, over Jefferson at the Bicentennial Center.
With a 36-23 lead at halftime, Gulf Coast coach Roonie Scovel told her team that it was 20 minutes away from becoming a national champion.
“But we started to fall apart,” Scovel said. “We started to show that ugly head and we called a timeout and talked about it and regrouped.
“We decided to bear down and win this thing.”
The Lady Commodores capped a 32-1 season in typical Gulf Coast fashion.
After falling behind 4-0, they went on a 22-2 run that all but draped a third banner in the Billy Harrison Field House. In storage for the past couple of weeks, Gulf Coast’s fast-break offense was out and running Saturday, once again fueled by aggressive defense. Seven of the Lady Commodores’ 11 steals came in the first half.
Angie Felton, who scored 20 points and was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Andrell Smith, started the run with a layup and a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions.
Tournament MVP Andrea Smith scored nine of her game-high 25 points during the spurt.
“I think that it was a combination of us having a lead and having a little confidence out of that lead,” said Scovel, who was named national coach of the year. “All we had to do was play and make some plays, and all of a sudden we made a lot of plays and put it out of reach.”
Following Andrea Smith’s layup with 11 minutes, 4 seconds left in the first half, Gulf Coast scored just five points during the next 6:10. Jefferson (32-2) carried over its 3-point shooting drought from the semifinals, however, missing 24 consecutive long-range shots before Anete Klintsone hit one with 1:20 left in the half.
Trying to avoid a repeat of Gulf Coast’s second-half declines, Felton started the final 20 minutes of the season with three 3-pointers. Felton’s shots, coupled with a layup by Porsha Harris, led Gulf Coast to a 47-30 lead just over four minutes into the second half.
The Lady Commodores finished the game making 13 of 14 free throws after hitting just three of their first 10.
“When you start out a season, you try to teach these women to buy in,” Scovel said. “We’re in a society where everything is instant gratification. We had to preach and preach and preach, and battle and battle.
“We won all the little battles and we won the war tonight.”
- JEFFERSON (61)
- Goodwin 2 4-4 8, Goree 0 0-0 0, Porter 5 2-2 12, Gutmane 0 0-0 0, Bicane 1 0-0 2, Scurlock 0 0-0 0, Klintsone 2 0-0 6, Brown 6 5-6 17, Holloway 1 2-2 4, Wiggins 1 0-0 2, Dunn 4 1-2 10. Totals: 22 14-16 61.
- GULF COAST (83)
- Nixon 0 0-0 0, Rush 1 0-0 2, Andrell Smith 2 2-2 6, Andrea Smith 10 3-7 25, Felton 5 6-6 20, Combest 0 0-0 0, Bunch 0 0-0 0, McCallum 4 2-2 10, Harris 2 1-3 5, Bennett 0 0-0 0, Rowe 0 0-0 0, Crosby 3 2-4 8, Dalrymple 3 0-0 7. Totals: 30 16-24 83.
- Halftime score: Gulf Coast 36, Jefferson 23. 3-point goals: Jefferson 3 (Klintsone 2, Dunn), Gulf Coast 7 (Felton 4, Andrea Smith 2, Dalrymple). Total fouls: Jefferson 22, Gulf Coast 16. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: Jefferson (Bench).
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