Lady Raiders lock up top seed in Region XVI Tournament 

After their last contest went to the wire, Saturday’s women’s college basketball game between the Three Rivers College Lady Raiders and Mineral Area College seemed almost anticlimactic.

With a chance to lock up the top seed in next month’s Region XVI Tournament, Three Rivers took care of business, rolling past the Lady Cardinals 80-47 at the Libla Family Sports Complex.

With the win, the Lady Raiders improved to 21-2 on the season and 8-0 in Region XVI play.

Better yet, with a four-game lead in the region standings with four games to play — and the head-to-head tiebreaker against the other teams in the region, TRC will be the No. 1 seed in the Region XVI Tournament next month and will not have to leave the Libla Family Sports Complex to earn a region championship.

Unlike the two teams' last contest, which ended up as a 63-59 thriller after the Lady Cardinals rallied from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to tie the score, this one was dominated by Three Rivers from the early going. TRC led 23-10 after the opening period and was up 41-26 at halftime, then outscored the Lady Cardinals 23-6 in the third quarter to take a 64-32 lead to the final period.

The Lady Raiders held Mineral Area (18-8, 2-6 Region XVI) under 30% shooting from the field (16-for-54), including 1-for-13 from behind the 3-point arc, and also held a 42-31 edge on the boards while committing just eight turnovers.

Kaleigh Thompson led a balanced Three Rivers attack with 15 points, while Brittani Wells and Jasmine Davis each had 11, Lexi Weaver added 10 and Laylah Reese finished with six as 11 TRC players found the scoring column. Bramyia Johnson had seven rebounds, while Thompson and Yannie Flemings each had six and Wells dished off five assists while committing no turnovers. Kamille Brown had four steals, while Davis had a pair and Samari Taylor blocked a pair of shots.

Ashley Buragas led the Cardinals with 15 points, while Karma Jones added 12 and Marceline Clermont had six. Presley Holweg paced MAC with eight rebounds, while East Carter graduate Breanna Dohleman had three points and a rebound.

The Lady Raiders played at St. Louis Community College on Monday and host Jefferson on Saturday afternoon at the Libla Family Sports Complex. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m.