Lady Owls Top Butler County To Claim Region 20 Championship, To Host Southeast District Championship On Saturday
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Butler County Community College - PA (10-8) | 12 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 45 |
|
Prince George's Community College (16-5) | 7 | 17 | 11 | 17 | 52 |
For the first time all season the Prince George's Community College Women's Basketball team trailed against a Region 20 Division III opponent on Sunday afternoon, February 20th during the Owls Region Championship game against Butler County Community College. Behind as many as nine points in the first period, the Owls rallied over the final three quarters to defeat the Pioneers 52-45 to claim the Region 20 Division III Title.
The win earned the Owls their second consecutive Region 20 Title for the first time in program history after defeating Anne Arundel in 2020. (There was no season held during the 2020-21 academic year due to COVID-19). Prince George's Women's Basketball now has six Region 20 Titles: 1975, 1989, 2006 (Division II), 2015 (Division III), 2020 (Division III), and now 2022 (Division III).
The Owls tied the game at 18 with a Janiah Williams layup at the 4:08 mark in the second period before she hit a jumper on the next Owls possession to put the Owls in front 20-18 with 3:05 left in the period. The Owls refused to give up the lead for the remainder of the game, eventually securing their largest lead of the game of nine points late in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach for the Pioneers.
Williams was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player following the win. Teammates RaMyah Yearwood and Tori Tolson were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Williams, a two-time NJCAA Division III Women's Basketball Player of the Week award winner this season, finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 steals. Williams now has 13 double-doubles on the year. Tolson ended with 12 points, 15 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block. She now has 12 double-doubles this year. Yearwood had 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists. Kelsey Vallair finished with 6 points and 3 steals while Vanessa Schwarzmann had 5 points, adding 3 steals as well.
The Owls first place finish in the Region came under Devin May's first year as head coach of the program. May has had his team in the weekly NJCAA Division III Women's Basketball Rankings since the second week of the season, climbing as high as number nine in the most recent rankings.
Prince George's will now host the Region 5 champion, Dallas College – Cedar Valley in the Southeast District Championship on Saturday, February 26th in Novak Field House. Tipoff is scheduled for 12 PM. The winner will earn an automatic bid to the 2022 NJCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship in Rochester, Minnesota on March 9-12.
