WARREN – Macomb Women's Basketball moved in front in the early stages and never looked back, leading by as many as 27 points in an 82-72 home victory over Oakland Community College on Wednesday (Feb. 19). The win secured the Monarchs' spot in the Great Lakes District A Championship as the MCCAA Eastern Conference No. 4 seed.
As the fourth seed, the Monarchs will visit the East No. 3 seed on March 4 with the winner moving on to the district semifinals at Mott Community College on March 7.
The Monarchs held a 10-point edge at the half, 45-35, before leading by as many as 27 late in the third quarter. The Owls continued to battle for the full 40 minutes and outscored the Monarchs, 24-9, over the final 10 minutes of play to land on the 82-72 final tally.
Freshman forward
Asiyah Jihad paced all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Jihad added five rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocks in the winning effort and was followed in double figures scoring by
Sydney Garon with 18 and
A'Liyah Forris with 16. Garon added nine rebounds and four assists, while Forris grabbed six boards and dished out five assists.
Janiya McWilliams was all over the court in the win and pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds to accompany eight points and five assists.
Nave'yah Knott chipped in with six points and
Vanessa Galovich and
Faith Weick had four points each.
The Monarchs visit Wayne County Community College on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip-off.
