Prince George's Women's Basketball Edged By Caldwell, 52-50

LARGO, Md. – Trailing by no more than three points in the final three minutes, Prince George's Community College had several scoring opportunities to tie or take the lead in the final minutes in a 52-50 defeat at the hands of Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute in women's basketball action on Tuesday.

The Cobras took the lead for good on a free throw with 5:36 left in the fourth quarter. After Gia Thomas (Riverdale, Md./Fairmont Heights) scored in the paint at 2:04 to cut the margin to 49-48, Quatazia Johnson (Hyattsville, Md./Northwestern) missed a 3-pointer with a chance to take the lead with 87 seconds left. After Thomas hauled in a defensive rebound, an Owl turnover on a 30-second shot clock violation handed the ball back to the visitor, who then made two at the free throw line with 25 seconds left. Marche Sisco (Fort Washington, Md./Friendly) 3-point attempt with 12 seconds remaining was rebounded by Caldwell and they made 1 of 2 at the line. Sisco scored off the glass as time expired to set the final score at 52-50.

Sisco paced Prince George's with 25 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and six assists. The fourth-most points the freshman scored this season also marked her ninth double-figure point performance this season. She has posted 25 points or more four times this season. It was also her sixth game with at least five rebounds, ninth game with at least five steals and fifth contest with at least five assists. The freshman has become the theft master as of late, notching 35 steals in her last four games. Sisco leads the team with 20.8 points, 6.2 steals and 4.8 assists per game on the year.

Kayla Ball (Washington, D.C./Paul Laurence Dunbar) added a career-high eight points along with six rebounds. Nehemie Vilain (Hyattsville, Md./Northwestern) chipped in six points and six rebounds and Misty Harewood (Oxon Hills, Md./Potomac) tallied four points, four rebounds and five assists for the Largo program. 

Thanks to six points by Sisco, Prince George's jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first five minutes of the game. The Cobras would then close the period on an 11-3 run to grab a 14-13 edge after the first quarter.

Caldwell held the advantage in the second quarter with the exception of two ties and a Sisco triple while the.buzzer was going off to give the Owls a 25-24 lead going into the locker room.

A tightly-contested third quarter was highlighted by Vilain giving Prince George's a 27-26 edge with 7:56 left and Ball handed the Owls a three-point lead on a layup 39 seconds later at 29-26. The Cobras then closed the half by scoring 13 of the final 20 points to take a 39-36 going into the final frame.

Trailing 43-36 with 8:32 remaining, the Largo team scored seven unanswered to tie the game at 43. Sisco and Ball combined for the seven points in this span. Caldwell took the lead for good with 5:36 remaining and Prince George's missed several chances to tie or retake the lead in the final minutes of the game.

Prince George's returns to action in the New Year at home to conclude a seven-game homestand against the College of Southern Maryland. Game time is 5 p.m.