NMJC ends CC’s magic season at national tournament
Clarendon College’s Lady Bulldogs saw their magic season come to an end Monday with a 58-53 loss to New Mexico Junior College in the NJCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Clarendon finished the year one win shy of a national title opportunity with a 33-3 record after claiming both the WJCAC and the NJCAA Region V titles.
CC Head Coach and Athletic Director Mark James said he and his team are disappointed but still see the season as successful.
CC Photo
“We are obviously disappointed we aren’t cutting down a third set of nets this year, but ultimately, we’ll all look back at this season as nothing but an enormous success,” James said. “33-3 overall, Conference Champions, Region V Tournament Champions, the #5 seed in the National Tournament, and making it to the Final Four of the National Tournament speaks for itself.”
In Monday’s tightly contested Final Four game in Lake Charles, the Lady Bulldogs trailed 34-25 at halftime before rallying in the third quarter, outscoring New Mexico Junior College 17-11 to cut the deficit to 45-42 entering the fourth.
Valentina Chinhama led Clarendon with 18 points, while Zainab Olalekan added 17 points and a dominant 18 rebounds. Eugenia Ngungo and Nuria Mucongo each grabbed 10 rebounds as the Lady Bulldogs held a 48-32 advantage on the boards, including 18 offensive rebounds.
Also scoring for Clarendon were Armanda Sindalawa 8, Ngungo 6, Mucongo 2, and Julianna Dada 2.
The No. 16-ranked New Mexico Junior College responded in the final quarter, holding No. 5 Clarendon to 11 points to secure the win. The T-Birds advanced to the NJCAA DI Women’s Basketball National Championship on Tuesday for the first time since 2019 to face No. 2 seed Eastern Arizona.
CC had defeated NMJC twice in prior matchups this season, and the Lady Bulldogs thought they would do it again.
“We truly expected to beat New Mexico for a third time this season and win a National Championship,” James said. “We came into the tournament with that mindset. We expected to win not just be satisfied with qualifying for it. But like I said ultimately when a little time has passed our entire team will look back at this season as a huge success.”
James said turnovers and cold shooting cost Clarendon in the Final Four game.
“Certainly give New Mexico credit, but we picked a tough time to play poorly offensively,” he said. “We turned the ball over too much and just couldn’t get enough shots to fall. Our defense and our effort kept us in the game Once we took the lead in the final couple of minutes, I really thought we would finish the game the way we were hoping to. But they hit a couple of big shots, and we just came up one shot or one stop short.”
On Saturday, Clarendon’s Armanda Sindalawa scored 25 points, including key baskets in the fourth quarter, as the Lady Bulldogs rallied to defeat Hutchinson Community College 57-54 to advance to the NJCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four.
Hutchinson built an early lead behind a 21-point first quarter and held Clarendon to 15 points in the opening period. The Blue Dragons managed just four points in the second quarter but maintained a slim advantage heading into halftime.
Clarendon outscored Hutchinson 20-9 in the final period, erasing a 45-37 deficit entering the fourth quarter. The Lady Bulldogs struggled offensively early, scoring just seven points in the second quarter, but closed strong behind Sindalawa’s scoring and defensive pressure.
Zainab Olalekan added 11 points and 11 rebounds for Clarendon, while the Lady Bulldogs controlled the boards 35-32 and recorded 10 steals. Julianna Dada chipped in six points off the bench. Also scoring for CC were Mucongo 5, Chinhama 4, Ngungo 2, Raissa Espindola Da Silva 2, and Camila De Oliveira Posselt 2.
The CC women had a bye in the first round of the NJCAA tournament, and faced Three Rivers College from Missouri on Friday, March 27, and won, 61-57
The Lady Bulldogs trailed 45-43 entering the fourth before using a strong finish to secure the win.
Clarendon outscored Three Rivers 18-12 in the final period to pull away in a tightly contested game that featured multiple lead changes.
Chinhama led the Lady Bulldogs with 18 points followed by Sindalawa with 15. Mucongo contributed 13 points, Olalekan added 12 points, and Ngungo put in 3.
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