MDJUCO Women's Basketball Tournament: #6 Raptors Out Duel #3 Skipjacks 75-74

By: Mario Diaz (Courtesy of MDJUCO.org for Feb. 14, 2019)

Hagerstown, Md. – Khienya Benjamin drained a three-pointer with eight seconds remaining in regulation today to give Montgomery College a 75-74 win over Chesapeake College in game one of the quarterfinal round of the Maryland Juco Women's Basketball Tournament.

Benjamin finished the game with 17 points (7-14), including a trio of three pointers (3-4). She also had five rebounds, five assists and four steals.

"I expected it to be a tight game," said Raptors head coach Tarlouh Gasque. "I think the turning point of the game was the three [Benjamin] hit to put us ahead. Then it was a matter of maintaining and finishing it out."

The sixth seeded Raptors returned the favor to the three seeded Skipjacks, as the latter was victorious 85-84 on November 14.  

Montgomery's Alexis Mack led all scorers with 20 points (5-19) and added 12 rebounds for a double-double.

A scary moment for Mack came with 0.3 seconds remaining as she fouled Chesapeake's Se'ri Miles. Luckily for Mack and the Raptors, Miles missed both free throws.

Nusaibah Rashad also finished with a double-double for the Raptors. She had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Trailing 42-35 at the break, the Skipjacks woke up and began the third on 16-9 run to tie the game at 51. They would lead by as many as four, but could not close the door on the Raptors late-game surge.

Jahnaya Peterson led the Skipjacks with 16 points (5-9) and nine assists. Miles added 13 points.

Montgomery started the game off active on both ends and Mack came out of the gate strong. She had six first-quarter points, two steals and an offensive rebound.

The Raptors' offensive rebounding generated many second chance-point opportunities in the first half and they finished with 16 for the game.

Montgomery's next game is Saturday at 1 p.m. in a semifinal match against the winner of Baltimore City Community College and tournament host Hagerstown.