Eastern Lady Mountaineers win Region II Tournament

Courtesy of Derek Hatridge, McAlester News-Capital

The Lady Mountaineer are going dancing.

Eastern Oklahoma State College women's basketball team faced off against Seminole State College in the Region II Championship game on Saturday, winning 77-70 and securing a spot in the NJCAA National Tournament.

Coach Al Davis said it's been a long, arduous road to get to this point thanks to the uncertainty of COVID-19, among other things. But seeing the smiles as the Lady Mountaineers cut down the nets was a testament to his team and everything they have overcome.

Back and fourth, but eastern pulled away late in the quarter to take a 28-15 lead after an exclamation point shot by the Lady Mountaineers at the buzzer.

In the second quarter, Seminole State started to chip away at the Eastern lead and trim it down to one point. They then used a free throw to tie the game at 31-31.

But Eastern answered in the form of Jaylann Myles to drive through traffic and jump back out ahead. Seminole State responded with a bucket and a foul, sinking the free throw to retake the lead.

The Lady Mountaineers stayed focused, and went to work in a tight-knit battle with their opponents. But a late scoring run by Seminole would put Eastern down 40-33 at the half.

"I just told them at halftime 'we're fine. It's a game of runs,'" Davis said. "'We'll just come out in the second half and play better,' and that's what we did."

Eastern kept its tenacity going in the start of the second half to chip away at the deficit and pull back into the lead. That began a back-and-fourth battle between the two teams, with the Lady Mountaineers putting themselves to a 57-55 lead heading into the final period.

Seminole hit a three to start the fourth quarter, once again setting off the tug-of-war trading of the lead.

Later in the period, Eastern used a cleanup bucket by Shanequa Henry to extend its lead. She followed that up with another shot, putting the Lady Mountaineers up by seven late in the quarter.

Seminole responded with a big three, putting pressure on Eastern. But the Lady Mountaineers stayed focused on the task at hand, and traded scores with Seminole.

Tilan Nolan scored on a fast break to put Eastern up by seven once again, but Seminole answered to keep within striking distance. However, the Lady Mountaineers would use their defense to hold on for the title win.

After the celebrations on the court, Davis said he had a moment in the locker room to reiterate how proud he was of them, and how proud they should be of themselves by bringing Eastern its first Region II Tournament title in 20 years.

"I told all of them I love 'em," Davis said. "I kind of told them 'enjoy these moments, they don't happen too often. You earned this championship, it wasn't given to you.'"

And Davis also had a special message of love and thanks to the fans of the Lady Mountaineers who have supported them every step of the way — whether they watched the games live or followed along online and watched the live game streams like on Mountaineer TV.

"I want to say thank you to everyone that supported us," Davis said. "I really want to say thank you to Dr. Wansick and her husband. They came down here and watched every one of our games. And that meant a lot to me, and that meant a lot to my players.

"I definitely appreciate her for that, and everybody that's been following us on social media throughout the season. We've had a lot of viewers watching games (online)," he continued. "I received a lot of text messages and phone calls. I apologize not getting back to everybody, but I appreciate everything."

Eastern will now head to the NJCAA National Tournament in Lubbock, Texas, April 19-24.

Contact Derek Hatridge at dhatridge@mcalesternews.com.