Pima women's basketball advances to play Mesa in finals

Posted Mar 5, 2013

Raymond Suarez
Pima Community College

The Pima Community College women’s basketball team (17-14) held on to the lead down the stretch and came away with a 79-72 win over South Mountain Community College on Tuesday in the semifinals of the Region I, Division II playoffs at the West Campus Gymnasium.

The No. 2-seeded Aztecs found themselves in a back-and-forth battle with South Mountain, the No. 3 seed. Pima was behind 30-26 at halftime.

The Aztecs trailed 39-32 early in the second half but went on an 8-0 run to take the lead at 42-41 with 15 minutes left. With the game tied at 51-51, Felicia Foster (Peoria HS) hit a three-pointer and the Aztecs wouldn’t trail again. They went on a 16-4 run and took a 65-55 lead, which was Pima’s biggest of the game. South Mountain would cut it to three points with 3 minutes remaining but that’s as close as they’d come.

A’jha Edwards (Tombstone HS), the Division II Player of the Year, was scoreless in the first half but had 12 rebounds. She finished with 12 points and 25 rebounds earning her 20th double-double of the season. DJ Davis (Tolleson HS) finished with a team-high 17 points while Foster and Rachel Williams (Cesar Chavez HS) each contributed with 14 points.

“This group of girls have been through a lot together. Tonight they reaped the benefits of sticking together and gutted out a great playoff win,” Pima coach Todd Holthaus said.

Mesa Community College defeated Phoenix College 72-63 to advance. The Aztecs will look for revenge as they play at Mesa Community College on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Mesa eliminated Pima in the Division II finals last season.