College women's basketball: Lady Roadrunners blow lead, chance at 1st-place tie

Equipped with a comfortable 69-59 lead with 4:08 left to play on Wednesday night, a  victory over arch rival Jefferson College was just on the tip of State Fair’s tongue.

The Lady Roadrunners could taste it.

And oh what a sweet victory it would’ve been, knocking off the 14th-ranked squad that entered the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center with an eight-game win streak.

Not only that, but the game had Region 16 implications for the Lady Roadrunners, who stood a game back of the Lady Vikings region-best 6-2 mark.

Just close out the win, and they’d be tied with the Lady Vikings at the top of the standings and in control of their own destiny, which could mean a potential bye in the upcoming region tournament.

But as they learned, no lead is safe against the perennial powerhouse Lady Vikings.

LaQuinta Jefferson scored 10 of her game-high 24 points in the closing four minutes and State Fair buckled under the pressure, giving up a 16-0 run en route to a 77-71 loss.

The loss dropped the Lady Roadrunners (15-8) into a three-way with Moberly and Crowder in the region loss column. Remaining on the schedule are Mineral Area (4-6 in region) at home and Crowder (5-4) and Jefferson College (23-4, 7-2) on the road.

The heartbreaking defeat was not the result of one culprit, but many.

Shooting 1 of 7 down the stretch as part of a night where the Lady Roadrunners shot 35 percent from the floor didn’t help, nor did committing five of their 22 turnovers over that final stretch or shooting just 22 of 39 from the charity stripe.

But the root of those issues was communication, State Fair coach Kevin Bucher said.

“We stopped attacking the post and were settling for shots and turning the ball over,” said Bucher, whose team shot 2 of 16 from beyond the arc. “They just didn’t go through with the game plan we designed. They just don’t listen.

“Take the free throws: We talked about how much were going to be shooting free throws headed into the game because Jefferson fouls a lot. They horsed around and didn’t take their free throws seriously and tonight was a prime example of everything we talked about in practice not getting through to them.”

The last time the teams faced each other was last year’s Region 16 title game, which the Lady Roadrunners won 81-71 en route to a national tournament appearance and their first-ever win at nationals.

The momentum from that epic matchup seemed to ignite both teams Wednesday, especially Jefferson College down the stretch.

Down 10, the Lady Vikings began the comeback with a Simone Johnson basket in the post. Then Jefferson scored six of her 16 second-half points to cut the deficit to 67-69, followed by a layup from Johnson to knot the score with just over two minutes to play.

“She’s such a great player, and as a coach, it’s fun to watch gifted athletes like that dominate,” said Bucher, whose team fell to 7-3 at home. “It’s hard when it’s against your team, but she really played well and lifted them in the second half.”

Reflecting a night where 75 free throws were taken (SFCC 39, Jefferson College 36), Jefferson, Rayla McKnight and Genise Presley then each knocked down a pair of free throws to cap off the 16-0 run with under a minute to play with the Lady Vikings leading 75-69.

State Fair finally responded with a putback off one of the club-best nine boards from Cheyenne Williams, whose 16 points trailed only Ryneka Church’s 17. But Jefferson College worked the clock and their leading scorer collected a clutch offensive rebound and iced the game at the line.