(Sugar Grove, IL.) – Waubonsee Community College's women's basketball team could never quite find its' shooting touch and fell to Morton College 71-61 in the first round of the Region IV Division II District D Tournament. The fourth-seeded Chiefs shot 30 percent (21 of 69) from the floor and only 18 percent (5 of 28) from three-point range. The fifth-seed Panthers also outscored Waubonsee 36-24 in the paint as the Chiefs' finish the season 18-13 overall.
Waubonsee had defeated Morton twice during the regular season, downing the Panthers 72-60 in Sugar Grove on Jan. 18 and 72-65 in Cicero on Feb. 13. The Chiefs took control of both of those contests in the third quarter on their way to victory. This time Morton grabbed the lead right from the start and never relinquished it throughout the game. The Panthers took an early 7-0 lead before Waubonsee scored the next six points. Morton then had an 8-0 run to vault ahead and ended the first quarter with an 18-11 lead. The Panthers went to the locker room at halftime leading 35-29 and continued to keep the Chiefs at bay, taking a 51-43 lead entering the final period.
Morton grabbed its biggest lead at 61-48 on a three-pointer by Michelle Kosinski with six minutes to go. Waubonsee valiantly chipped away at the deficit and had some momentum trailing by seven with three and a half minutes remaining. However, just when it looked like Waubonsee had achieved a defensive stop and a chance to get within striking distance, Morton's Crystal Alvarado nailed a long three-pointer as the shot clock wound down to increase the deficit again to double-digits. Waubonsee got within five points on a trey by Lauren Goff with a minute to go, but that was as close as the Chiefs got.
Mozelle Kempiak closed out her stellar Waubonsee career with another double-double in points and rebounds. The Serena High School product posted her 46th double-double in 61 career collegiate games by scoring a game-high 22 points and hauling down 15 rebounds, to go along with three assists and three blocks. Goff finished with 17 points, four steals and six boards, while Alexis VanWyhe handed out six assists. Zoie Landers paced Morton with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Tyra Walker tallied 16 points, dished out eight assists and snagged nine boards, and Kosinski chipped in with 13 points for the Panthers.
The victory improves Morton's record to 17-14 overall as the Panthers move on to play top-seeded Kankakee Community College (21-7) this coming Saturday, March 3 at 2:00 p.m. on the Chiefs' court. Waubonsee is once again the host site for the women's and men's Region IV Division II Tournament. Four women's semi-final games (noon, 2pm, 4pm & 6pm) will be played in Erickson Hall this coming Saturday, and four men's semi-final contests (noon, 2pm, 4pm & 6pm) will be played the following day on Sunday, March 4. The two women's championship games (noon & 2:30pm) will be held on Saturday, March 10, with the men's title contests (5pm and 7:30pm) afterwards. All four title games will be broadcast 'live' at www.GoChiefs.com/RegionIV and locally on cable television. Check with your local provider for the channel in your area. For additional tournament information, including all four tournament brackets, go to www.GoChiefs.com You can also follow on Twitter @WaubonseeChiefs to get timely updates on all the tournament action, and you can share your tournament experiences at #Region4BBALL.