By Matt Hickman/Sierra Vista Herald
COOLIDGE — Throughout the regular season, no team in the state gave the Central Arizona College Vaqueras women’s basketball team as much trouble as the Cochise College Apaches.
And for much of the way in Friday night’s NJCAA Region I Championship Game, the pattern held true. Cochise trailed the nation’s second-ranked team just 25-24 at the half, but in the final seven minutes, the Vaqueras were able to get some breathing room in a 73-63 decision.
“We had a really great first half. We executed our game plan,” Cochise head coach Laura Hughes said. “In the second half, we played even with them, and then they got the jump on us with about seven minutes left. They hit big shots, and defensively, we could not get the stops when we needed them. Give credit to them, they are definitely the No. 2 team in the country. You can’t have letdowns against a team like that.”
Cochise was led in scoring by sophomores Ashley Mitchell and Johnishia Welles with 12 apiece. Jasmine Lemon added eight.