No. 13 Thunderducks Capture First District Title in Program History

DALLAS – Dallas College Richland women's basketball team is headed to its first national tournament in program history.

The 13^th-ranked Thunderducks beat Dallas College Mountain View 65-62 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Central District championship Saturday to punch their ticket to the national tournament March 11-14 in Brownwood, Texas.

"We're excited," Richland sophomore guard Sanaa Darensburg said after scoring 18 points. "We're ready."

Richland (10-10) beat Mountain View (6-14) twice within five days on the same floor after finishing the regular season with 78-63 victory over the Lions on Tuesday. This one required an uphill climb.

Mountain View sprinted to a 19-2 lead, and finished off the first quarter with a steal and lay-in by Joslyn Jarmon to spot the Lions a 29-9 advantage.

The Thunderducks pulled within 12 on Kiana Thornton's triple 3:15 before halftime. Aspen Hicks split a pair at the free throw line at the 2:26 mark to make it 33-22. And Darensburg scored in transition to beat the buzzer as Richland stayed within striking distance, trailing 36-24.

Richland outscored Mountain View 15-7 in the second quarter.

Less than three minutes into the second half, Hicks drained a 3-pointer pulling the Thunderducks within 36-32. Thornton drained another to cut it to 38-37. Mountain View's Aundrea Bradley and Jourdan Jones sank two free throws apiece after a Richland personal and technical foul to bump the Lions' lead back to five. With 2:16 left in the third quarter, Kristen Thomas hit an off-balance leaner to pull Richland even with Mountain View at 44-44. And Darensburg's two free throws 24 seconds later gave the Thunderducks the lead.

That finished a 22-8 Richland run.

"We had to be disciplined," Darensburg said. "We had to stop turning the ball over. After we did that, we just had to run our plays, play together and calm down our feelings. We were just too motivated. We were too up. We had to slow it down just a little bit."

Skylar Johnson's baseline jumper moved Richland ahead 54-46 early in the fourth period. Johnson scored all nine of her points after halftime.

Jones, who finished with 25 points, scored to pull the Lions within three midway through the fourth quarter. After Darensburg sank two free throws with 2:45 to go, Alexis Simpson scored in the paint with a little over a minute-and-a-half to go as the Lions cut it to 62-60.

But the Thunderducks held on down the stretch.

Thornton finished with 13 points, and Hicks had 10 before fouling out. Jarmon scored 16 of her 18 points in the first half. Bradley scored 14 points, and Simpson 13.

Last year, the Lions ended Richland's season in the district semifinals on the same floor. A year later, and the Thunderducks have redemption.

"It's very exciting," Darensburg said. "We're ready. That's all I've got to say."

With Brownwood beckoning, this Thunderducks team isn't done talking yet.