MCC win streak, season over; Dean College gains split on home court

FRANKLIN, MA – Shelly Monahan had 34 points as Dean College broke Manchester CC’s nine game winning streak with a 71-64 victory Sunday afternoon in Franklin, MA.
Shanika Hines led the Cougars with 19 points, followed by Katurah Andrews (18) and Erika Murphy (17). The Cougars, who had not lost in 2009, closed out the 2008-09 season with a 17-3 record. Andrews had 16 of her 18 points in the second half.

MCC beat 75-68 Dean College on December 6th at East Catholic, but the Bulldogs were ready for the rematch on their campus.

“What we were doing all week when we were practicing for these guys was to get ourselves to value the basketball,” DC’s second year Head Coach David Jollon said. “Early in the game we weren’t able to do that. When we were in Manchester, we weren’t able to do that either. Once we got that Manchester press off of us, we were able to let the game come to us and do what we had to do.”

The Cougars held a 29-28 edge at halftime, but the Bulldogs (16-8) took a 37-35 lead with 16:39 to play and never trailed again. Fouls came into play for MCC as Hines, Andrews and Jhenel Franklin (7 rebounds, 3 assists) had four apiece and a late game rally never developed.

“We lost a lot of intensity in the last ten minutes of the first half,” MCC head Coach Robert Turner said. “Their big girls really went to town on us. They got a lot of second chance points and we weren’t aggressive on our press and didn’t play with a sense of urgency the last part of the game.”

Hines, Andrews, Franklin and Amy Griswold all played their final game in an MCC uniform. The sophomores completed a two-year run that produced a 37-6 record for their school. The foursome unofficially passed the torch down to the freshmen class, led by Murphy who played all 40 minutes on Sunday and paced the Cougars with 10 rebounds.

Hines, who was an NJCAA Division III second team All-American pick a year ago and a pre-season first team All-American selection in the fall, went over the 700-point mark in the first half and finished her two-year MCC career with 711 points over 43 games.

The Cougars, who were undefeated at home and defeated on the court just twice during the season, are ineligible for post season play. An NJCAA Region XXI rule bans teams from their tournament once they reach eight technical fouls in one season. MCC received nine technical fouls over the course of the 2008-09 season.

Dean College’s season ended on Sunday as well, but for a different reason. The Bulldogs play in the NJCAA’s Division II, which will not hold a tournament and send CC of Rhode Island straight to the national tournament based on regular season performance.