RCGC Women's Basketball Team Captures Region XIX Crown

Tournament MVP Tierah Bush (Woodrow Wilson) scored 12 of her 15 points in a dominating second-half performance to help the number one seed Rowan College at Gloucester County (RCGC) women’s basketball team capture the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XIX Division III Championship when they rallied to defeat number two seed Brookdale Community College, 78-67, on Sun., Mar. 4 at Northampton County College.

The Region XIX crown was the first for the Roadrunners in women’s basketball since 2000, and second in the College’s history. RCGC women’s basketball coach Rich Cooper was also selected as the Region XIX “Coach of the Year” by his peers.

Bush turned up her game a notch in the second half, when the two teams began play tied at 37-37. The Roadrunners quickly found themselves down by 11 at 55-44 with 3 minutes and 26 seconds remaining in the third quarter, before Bush took over with nine key points in the final moments of play. She also pulled down 12 rebounds and nabbed four steals

Sophomore guard Alyvia Essex (Atlantic City) may have made the ultimate team sacrifice. She scored a pair of quick baskets (she finished with 18 points) and then ramped up the defensive pressure before fouling out with 4 minutes and 12 seconds remaining in the game – but not before she helped to engineer a lightning-fast turnaround that put the Roadrunners on top, 68-59.

Bush took over from there, helping the Roadrunners secure a spot in the upcoming NJCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, Mar. 15-17, in Rockford, IL.

“I didn’t want to foul out, but I wanted to give us a spark and put us in position to win,” Essex said. “I knew someone would step up and that’s exactly what Tierah (Bush) did! No surprise there!”

The win was the nineteenth straight for the Roadrunners, who improved to 24-3, overall.

“Over the entire win streak, we were a team that never played with any pressure,” Cooper said. “We had some of that in third quarter, when we fell behind. We called a time out and we talked about it. Everyone settled down – it’s all about not putting pressure on ourselves.”

The Roadrunners also owe a debt of gratitude to freshman guard Jaida Davis (Overbrook), who scored 16 of her 22 points in the first half, and then netted four key points in the final moments of play to bury the Jersey Blues.

Brookdale received 27 points from sophomore guard Che’Kasha Andrews, one of the nation’s leading scorers. Nevertheless, the Roadrunners, with solid defensive efforts from Autumn Ingram (Delsea Regional), Katie Dunn (Audubon), Carlie Reick (Woodstown) and Raquel Harris-Scott (Overbrook), held the entire Jersey Blues’ lineup in check.

Cooper’s team, number nine in the NJCAA Division III national rankings, will now prepare for the NJCAA National Championship Tournament and Bush is ready for the challenge.

“We’re not ready for the season to end,” said Bush following the win. “We are on a roll and we want to keep winning!”

For more information on RCGC Athletics visit RCGC.edu/Athletics or follow @RCGCAthletics

Rowan College at Gloucester County is located at 1400 Tanyard Road in Deptford, just off Exit 56 of Route 55.