JOLIET, ILL. - The Madison College women's basketball team had a hard time getting the ball in the basket during the first ten minutes of Friday's Region 4 Division III Tournament Semifinal against Joliet Junior College, and saw their 2022-23 season come to a close with a 69-54 loss. The third-seeded WolfPack tallied just nine points in the opening quarter, and despite a career-best-tying five 3-pointers from freshman Kayla Staveness over the next three quarters, we unable to overcome the double-digit deficit against the second-seeded Wolves. The season ends with an 8-20 record.

The host Wolves scored the game's first six points and eventually went on a 9-0 run to grab a 28-9 lead after a first quarter that saw the Pack go 0 for 9 from distance. The differential grew to 24 after two early buckets for JJC to start the second quarter, and remained at 23 at half time even though Staveness buried three triples and scored 11 points in eight minutes of action.

The WolfPack regrouped at halftime and came out of the locker room with a 10-0 surge to cute the deficit to 49-36, however, Joliet Junior College tallied the next dozen points for a 25-point edge before Staveness ended the run with another three-pointer. With their backs against the wall and trailing by 20 to start the fourth quarter, Madison College fought hard and used a Mikala Williams layup to start a run of ten points to close within 63-53 with 5:32 remaining. The run was answered by six points from JJC to keep the differential in double-digits entering the final minutes.

Staveness, a native of Rio, Wisconsin, posted her second-highest single-game scoring total of the season with her second 5 for 10 effort from beyond the arc to reach 19 points. She was 6 for 11 overall and 2 for 2 at the free throw line, to go along with five rebounds and two steals.

Seven other players scored for the WolfPack, including sophomore Taylor Ripp with six points and a team-high 11 rebounds. She also added three assists, two steals, and a block. Williams and Jordanna Davis tied for team-high honors with four assists each.

Madison College engineered an 18-12 lead in points off turnovers, and finished the game shooting 31% (21-67) from the field, 26% (7-27) beyond the arc, and 41% (5-12) at the stripe.

Joliet Junior College (12-19) now boasts a 5-3 edge in postseason meetings, while Madison College still owns a 22-19 lead in the all-time series. The Wolves, who have won five in a row over the Pack, advanced to the Region 4 Division III Championship and lost to top-seeded College of DuPage (15-14).



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