Owls Upended By #1 Owens In National Championship Quarterfinals

A fourth period rally came just a little too late for the Owls on Thursday, March 10^th during the NJCAA Division III Women's Basketball National Championship quarterfinals as Prince George's fell to Owens Community College, 61-46. The loss ended the Owls quest for a National Championship but Prince George's proved they have a bright future under first year head coach Devin May in the process.

After earning the first tournament win in program history on Wednesday, the Owls came out slow against the Express who capitalized on the Owls mistakes. An explosive 23-point first period by the Express put the Owls behind early as Prince George's answered with only 13 points. Five turnovers by Prince George's in the first period set the tone for the rest of the day as the Owls finished with 19 by the final buzzer. Foul trouble also began early for the Owls as Tori Tolson had collected three in the first four minutes. Janiah Williams also had two herself.

Prince George's offense sputtered in the second period as the Owls were only able to manage four points to head into halftime behind 35-17. Freshman Alicia Jones scored all four points for the Owls during the stretch. Vanessa Schwarzmann led Prince George's in scoring at the break with 5 points. Sonia Chofong, Jones, and Williams each had 4 points. Williams also had 10 rebounds at the break.

The Owls offense picked up in the third period, scoring 13 but couldn't hold Owens in check as the Express increased their lead to 25 as they again outscored Prince George's, 20-13 during the quarter.

Down 55-30 entering the final period, the Owls finally found an answer as Prince George's held the Express to just 6 points on 1-of-11 shooting from the floor while scoring 16 points, including 8 for 9 from the free throw line. The Owls forced the Express to turn the ball over nine times in the quarter while limiting their own turnovers to just two. Alicia Jones was especially dominant in the fourth quarter as she picked up 11 of her team-high 19 points during the period.

The change of play from the Owls came a little too late to overcome the Express lead which grew to as much as 27 points at one point. With early foul troubles on key pieces of the Owls attack, Prince George's was forced to play a different style of basketball then they're accustomed to against a deep Owens roster which took advantage of the mismatch.

Jones finished the quarterfinal matchup with a new season-high in scoring with 19 points, adding 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Williams just missed out on a double-double with 9 points and 17 rebounds.

The Owls will now play the loser of #4 Rochester and #12 North Country in a consolation game on Friday, March 11^th at 1 PM ET. The winner will then advance to play another consolation game on Saturday at 1 PM ET to determine a fifth-place finisher.

All games of the tournament, including consolation matchups will be live streamed and are available with a fee through the NJCAA Network. Viewers can visit the schedule of live events here.