Nov. 28, 2006

Final Stats

The NJC women's basketball team continued its winning ways in the first game of the Odessa Thanksgiving Classic. The Plainswomen downed Kilgore College, 60-56, and improved to 8-1 on the season.

"They were huge so we didn't match up with size," NJC Head Coach Darrel Parker said. "It was their size versus our quickness and we were able to make some plays down the stretch in the second half."

NJC couldn't get the lid off in the first half and trailed, 32-25, at halftime. The team hit just 6-of-22 shots in the opening frame. But the Plainswomen countered by holding Kilgore to 34 percent shooting.

"We played good defense for 40 minutes," Parker said. "The game was close the whole way but we were able to get some good passes in to Daria (Basova), and she took advantage of it."

Parker's team shot just 30 percent from the field for the game, but the Plainswomen won the battle at the free-throw line. Parker's group hit 17 free throws in the second half and nailed 21-of-28 in the game to overcome a cold shooting night.

Daria Basova led NJC with a game-high 21 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds.

Guards Roni Whitman and Sarah Conner scored 12 and 10 points, respectively. Whitman and Conner hit two, three-pointers each while both players were perfect from the free-throw line. Conner added seven rebounds while Whitman passed out six assists.