For the second year in a row, the Monroe Mustangs women’s basketball team is the NJCAA Division II National Champion! Monroe defeated Lake Michigan 78-73 in a hard-fought final to earn the crown. Monroe led the whole game with a lead that rose to 18 in the second half. But the Indians came all the way back and with 2:24 remaining took a one point lead at 71-70. That was short-lived however as Monroe answered right back on clutch free throw shooting by Aivah Parham to take the lead for good. This is Monroe’s second national title in Division II and they also won two when they were a Division III team. They finish the season at 31-6. Box Score
“We had many things happen to us this year that might have made some people think we couldn’t do this,” said Coach James Robinson Jr. “Maybe most significant was when our point guard tore her ACL right before the Nationals. But this championship is about the power of belief, belief in yourself and belief in your teammates. Our players worked as hard as they could to make this happen and they deserve this title and all the accolades they get.”
Kashay Barnes, who had an awesome tournament and was named MVP, led Monroe in the final with 26 points and 8 assists. Two other Mustangs scored over twenty. Parham had 22 points and 6 rebounds and Jasmine McRoy had 21 points and also 6 rebounds.
Parham and Verdine Warner were named to the All-tournament team and Coach Robinson received the Lorene Ramsey Coach of the Tournament award from Coach Ramsey herself, a pioneer in women’s sports and one of the most successful college basketball coaches of all time.
With only one player returning from last year’s title team (Parham) and an up-and-down season that even featured a loss in the Region final, Monroe was only the ninth seed coming in to the tournament. Lake Michigan was seeded #7.