The Lady Tornadoes defeated Rochester College of Michigan, 48-36 in the championship game of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association’s national tournament.
“It’s lovely,” TC women’s coach Romeo Lagmay said of winning his first national championship as a head coach. “I don’t even know how I’m supposed to react.”
His players reacted in a predictable manner.
“Crying,” Lagmay said when asked the reaction of the team after winning the championship. “After we won they were crying. The seniors were glad. They were excited to be in the position and they figured since they were here they might as well win it.”
Both teams struggled shooting in the game. But Talladega College’s defense proved to be too much for the Warriors of Rochester. Rochester scored the first points of the game to take a 2-0 lead early, but Talladega College tied the game with a layup by Morgan Bennett and the Lady Tornadoes never looked back. Sophomore Shakila Cole hit a three-pointer to give Talladega its first lead of the game, 5-2 with 17:18 remaining in the opening period. Cole knocked down another three-pointer to extend Talladega’s lead to six points.
The Lady Tornadoes led by as much as 10 points in the first half and took a 24-18 lead into the locker room at halftime. Lagmay said his team executed the game plan to perfection.
“We do a lot of scouting reports,” he said. “We just pressured their guards. We knew exactly every offensive play they run. (The players) executed our plan. We fed off the defense and did our thing.”
The second half was more of the same for the Lady Tornadoes with a stingy defense not allowing the Warriors to score. TC led by 14 midway through the second half and Rochester never got closer than seven points in the final stanza.
Ebony Richardson was a force to be reckoned with in the second half, scoring all of her 11 points in the period.
“Ebony was the spark plug,” Lagmay said.
“She didn’t give up. She was a little bit injured, but she didn’t give up. She wanted to win.”
Senior All-American Tamiko Rounds was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. She finished with 16 points, eight rebounds to lead the Lady Tornadoes in the finals.
“She deserves it,” Lagmay said of Rounds winning the MVP award. “She was my coach out there along with Ebony Richardson. Tamiko is a senior. She rebounded; she scored. She was consistent throughout the tournament.”
Fellow All-American Morgan Bennett struggled scoring in the last two games, but the senior led the team in rebounding on Saturday with 18 boards in the game. Bennett also finished with five assists, four points and three steals.
Cole chipped in seven points for the Lady Tornadoes and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
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