Lady Owls Come Up Just Short In Southeast District Championship Against Cedar Valley

Prince George's women's basketball hosted Cedar Valley College (Lancaster, TX) inside Novak Field House on Saturday afternoon, February 29^th in the NJCAA Division III Southeast District Championship with a trip to the National Tournament on the line. In a contest that went down to the wire, the lady Owls came up just short in the closing seconds as Prince George's fell to the visiting Suns 63-62 to put an end to the Owls 2019-20 season.

The Owls, who entered as NJCAA Region XX Division III champions for the first time since the 2014-15 season, trailed early before finding their footing to lead by as many as 10 points during the second period. The Owls would later enter halftime leading 35-31. Sophomore Tatiana Garvin (Bowie, MD / Bowie) had already notched a double-double by the halfway point with a team-high 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The Suns came out aggressive in the third period as they outscored the Owls 17-11 to regain a 48-46 lead heading into the final ten minutes. The Suns led by as many as 5 points during the fourth period but the Owls continued to climb back before tying the score at 56 with 4:37 remaining after freshman Trinity Workman (Beltsville, MD / Eleanor Roosevelt) knocked down a free throw. The next two minutes consisted of the Suns dominating the glass as they collected rebound after rebound, but the Owls were able to stay within striking distance as they went 4 for 4 from the charity stripe on their next two possessions. After a Cedar Valley College layup put the Suns up 63-60 with 2:41 left, the Owls turned the ball over on their ensuing possession to give control back to the Suns. Prince George's was able to redeem themselves after Workman hit a jumper following a Cedar Valley missed shot to bring the Owls within one, 63-62 with 1:21 left to go.

Feeling the Owls on their heels, the Suns proceeded to miss both of their shot attempts in their final two possessions which was accompanied by a pair of missed attempts from the Owls in multiple go-ahead scenarios. The Owls final missed shot from the floor resulted in a jump ball after the rebound was collected by Cedar Valley which gave possession back to the Owls under the Suns basket with 5 seconds remaining. The Owls Tatiana Garvin was then able to draw the foul on the Suns J'kimbria Criss while she was in the act of shooting with 1.6 seconds left to head to the free throw line with the game on the line. Garvin, the Owls top free throw shooter all season and lone sophomore on the squad, proceeded to be denied from the stripe as she went 0 for 2 and the Suns collected the final defensive rebound to hand the Owls a 63-62 loss.

The Owls 2019-20 season which ended in dramatic fashion, will be seen as a year of great resilience and determination as the ladies finished the second half of the season with only six healthy players. Each one of the women were required to share the workload and responsibilities of a team typically made up of 10-15 players. Equally as impressive was the job of the coaching staff which was led by head coach Tiona Harris as well as assistant coaches Cheyenne Bailey and Benvenuto Bullock who turned the Owls 1-18 record just one year ago into a 14-13 campaign during the 2019-20 season which resulted in a Region XX crown.