Apaches fall short in final seconds to DII No. 9 Mesa

MESA, Ariz. --- The 14th-ranked Cochise Women's Basketball team visited the Division II 9th-ranked Mesa Community College Thunderbirds Tuesday evening, in what was expected to be a close back-and-forth affair. The Apaches and Thunderbirds have met multiple times in previous seasons both as highly-touted and highly-ranked programs, and this year did not fail to disappoint as both teams went down to the wire when the T-Birds ultimately came out on top in the final seconds.

In the first quarter, Cochise exploded on offense to lead MCC 20-8 led by the sophomore duo of Jessie Joaquim and Karolina Padilla who each put up six points. The Thunderbirds cut the lead in half in the second quarter only trailing Cochise 29-18 at halftime.

It was the second half where Mesa came out of the gates hot outshooting the Apaches 6-2 including 5 for 5 in 3-pointers. The Apaches and Thunderbirds were neck-and-neck in the final ticks of the game, as the Apaches trailed Mesa 44-45, but a steal by Padilla made way for the go-ahead lay up from Michelle Nkolo allowing the Apaches to go up 46-45 with only three seconds remaining. A foul with one second remaining from sophomore Micayla Silas took Mesa to the free-throw line and sunk both to give the T-Birds the 47-46 win.

Nkolo was the leading scorer for Cochise going 5 for 12 with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Silas and Padilla each followed with nine points.

Up Next..

Cochise (4-3) begins ACCAC DI play next week, as the Apaches head to Thatcher, AZ on Wednesday, December 4th to face conference foe Eastern Arizona (4-2) at the Guitteau Gymnasium. Tip off is scheduled for 5:30 pm and is expected to be livestreamed via the Eastern Arizona Athletics website.