Thiam and Mich'l dominate as Aztecs Women's Basketball Advances to Seventh Place Consolation Final

The Pima Community College women's basketball team (5-4) took control in the second half against No. 13 Grand Rapids Community College (12-5) on Friday in the NJCAA Division II Tournament Consolation Bracket match-up.

• The No. 9 seeded Aztecs defeated the Raiders 78-64 to advance to Saturday's Seventh Place Consolation Bracket final. The Aztecs will play No. 7 seed Arkansas State University Mid-South at 12:00 p.m. (ET); 9:00 a.m. (MST).
• The Aztecs trailed the entire first quarter but took their first lead of the game at 19-18 with freshman Mackenzie Kinsel's (Desert Edge HS) basket. The Raiders went on an 11-0 run to put the Aztecs down 29-19 with 5:23 left in the half. The Aztecs countered with their bench as freshman Jaslyn Booker (Buena HS), sophomore Izzy Enriquez (Mountain Points HS), Kinsel, freshman Angel Addleman (Palo Verde HS) and sophomore Melissa Simmons all scored for Pima during a 12-1 run to end the half. The Aztecs led 31-30 at halftime.
• Sophomore Sierra Mich'l, who played just three minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, found rhythm in the third quarter with three quick baskets inside the paint. She gave the Aztecs their first double digit lead with a three-point play to make it 46-36 with 5:28 left in the quarter. She scored 11 points in the third quarter.
• Coach's Quote: "When Sierra was on the bench, we seemed to struggle, but the reserves who brought us back from 10 down in the second quarter, deserve a LOT of credit," Pima women's basketball coach Todd Holthaus said. "The only adjustment we made was telling Sierra to stay out of foul trouble."
• The Aztecs led 60-48 after the third quarter and continued to pour it on in the fourth as they held Grand Rapids scoreless for the first six minutes. Pima went on a 14-0 run to take a 74-48 lead.
• Sophomore Fama Thiam (Highland HS) scored 11 of her game-high 19 points in the first quarter. She finished with a double-double after adding 10 rebounds to go along with three assists and two steals. Mich'l fell short of a double-double as she scored 11 of her 15 points in the third quarter. She finished 6 for 9 from the field and had nine rebounds and two blocks.
• Sophomore Nikya Orange (Tanque Verde HS) finished with eight points and eight rebounds and Booker had four points and 11 rebounds off the bench. The Aztecs' bench outscored the Raiders' bench 29-19.
• Coach's Quote: "We made it to Saturday of the National Tournament. These kids are amazing, I'm so happy for them all," Holthaus said. "It makes the roller coaster ride worth it for them. Only eight teams in the country are playing on the last day of the season and Pima is one of them."

GRCC   18   12   18   16   64
PCC      15   16   29   18   78