Women's Basketball wins first Region IV title since 1994

The long and hard struggle to turnaround the Triton College women's basketball program finally paid off as a 27-year championship drought is over. The Trojans claimed their first regional title since 1994 by virtue of their 62-58 win over Highland Community College April 5 in the Region IV Division I championship game in Freeport.

Triton advances to the NJCAA North Central District championship to face No. 25 Iowa Western Community College Saturday, April 10 at Noon in Council Bluffs, IA. The winner moves on to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament later this month in Lubbock, TX.

"Anytime you achieve something that has not been done in almost 30 years it's a great accomplishment," said Triton head coach Marques Hatch who was named Region IV Coach of the Year.

"I want to thank the Triton administration for allowing our program to move to the Division I level. They have been supportive and nothing short of amazing in providing us the amenities to be successful," Hatch added. "But I want to say a huge thank you our Triton alumni, former coaches and players for all of their support. We would not be in this position without the hard work over the years that they contributed."

After losing both regular season meetings with the Cougars, it was Triton who got the last laugh. The Trojans came out energized as Highland had no answers early on against the Triton zone defense.

The Trojans jumped out to a 17-5 lead after one quarter. Monraia Wilson scored seven of her team-high 20 points in the opening period. The freshman from Hoffman Estates was named to the all-tournament team. Her steal and lay-up gave Triton a 13-4 advantage.

Tournament Most Valuable Player Mariah Henry (Proviso West) followed with another steal and was fouled on her bucket to put the Trojans up 15-4 with 2:17 left in the quarter. Henry missed the free throw on the three-point play attempt, but Baryah Johnson (Milwaukee, WI) got the rebound and put back to increase the Triton lead to 17-4.

The Trojans would never relinquish the lead as they lead 26-20 at halftime.

Highland would pull as close as 28-27 early in the third quarter. However, Triton did not crack under the playoff pressure and outscored the Cougars 16-10 to go into the fourth quarter with a 44-37 cushion.

The Trojans in the fourth did a great job managing the game and protecting the lead. Triton built the lead back up to 10 points with a 6-0 run following a three-pointer from all-tournament selection Linarys Burnett-Romero (Milwaukee, WI) and three-point play by Wilson to make it 53-43 Triton with 5:22 to go in the contest.

Wilson along with her 20 points added 10 rebounds, six steals and three assists. Henry had 16 points, seven steals, six assists and six rebounds. Burnett-Romero finished with eight points and four rebounds to lead the group of Trojans who took home individual tournament honors.

Freshman forward Aaliyah Dixon (Larkin) was in double-figures with 11 points.

"The ladies fought through a lot of adversity to get to this point and I'm proud of them for that," said Hatch. "We had some rough days this season, but through perseverance and trusting the process we find ourselves one win away from making the national tournament in our first season competing at the NJCAA Division I level."

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