CASPER, Wyo. — The Three Rivers College women's basketball team finds itself in rarefied air, both figuratively and literally.
First of all, the Lady Raiders are literally in the rarefied air of being more than 5,000 feet above sea level in east-central Wyoming as they prepare for Friday's NJCAA Tournament second-round contest against the winner of the Hutchinson-South Georgia Tech contest. Tipoff time for Friday's contest is set for 5:45 p.m. at the Ford Wyoming Center.
But more than that, they are in the figurative rarefied air of being the first Three Rivers College athletic team to ever make five trips in a row to the national tournament — surpassing the four consecutive trips the Raiders men's basketball team made from 1978-81.
And that's an achievement which isn't lost on Lady Raiders head coach Alex Wiggs.
“It's hard to believe,” Wiggs said. “Just with the success that goes hand-in-hand with Three Rivers, it doesn't seem real. We've got a lot that we've got to accomplish still yet, but just making it there (these last) five years is pretty special.”
Making that trip back to east-central Wyoming has been a priority since TRC's season ended in the national quarterfinals last March.
“Credit goes to the girls for putting in the work and for doing what it takes to give us an opportunity to go back,” Wiggs said. “We unfortunately didn't win the region (earlier this month), but the body of work that they've done throughout the season (got us back to Casper). They've risen up to every challenge and I am just super proud of the hard work and the commitment level that they've done since day one.”
The Lady Raiders enter this year's NJCAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed after being ranked as high as No. 2 in the NJCAA poll during the regular season. TRC won 20 games in a row before losing to State Fair in the Region XVI championship on March 14, which forced the Lady Raiders to wait two more days to see if they were going to get to go back to nationals.
Could that loss to State Fair end up being a blessing in disguise for Three Rivers?
“I'm not a big believer in that stuff (but) I feel like, though, that (something like) that does help you get refocused,” Wiggs said. “Like I told this team back in November, when you're tired of losing, we won't lose again. And we were able to do that for 20 games before we lost. I just didn't feel like we were as locked in mentally as we needed to be (against State Fair). … I think that they're upset that they missed an opportunity (in the region championship), but also they're locked in and they feel very fortunate that they get to continue to play.”
One thing that is certain is the Lady Raiders' road to their first-ever national championship won't be easy. Hutchinson is the defending national champion, while South Georgia Tech is 25-6 on the season.
If the Lady Raiders win Friday, they will take on either defending national runner-up Northwest Florida State — the team which ended TRC's season last March — or Wallace State, which is 29-4 and defeated Shelton State to win Region XXII and earn an automatic bid to Casper.
“Everybody there is good and everybody there deserves to be there,” Wiggs said. “It doesn't matter if we play Hutch or South Georgia Tech, those two teams are really, really good. Hutch lost arguably their best player, but they've had kids step up that were returners off of that team — so they're going to be ready to go. They know what it's like.”
“Our girls know what it's like, but we're (also) excited for the opportunity. We've got to make sure that no matter who we play, that we're going to get their best night in and night out. It's a single-elimination tournament, so it's go time now.”
Last but not least, Wiggs believes his team's defense is key to making a deep run at the national tournament.
“We've got to get back to finding our identity on the defensive end,” Wiggs said. “The second semester, I felt like we went how our offense went. Whenever you go 12-0 in region play and you win 20 straight games, you start living on the good and the adversity is harder to get through.
“I think back early on, we beat Shelton State 52-51 at Shelton State (when) they were the No. 6 team in the country at the time — and our offense wasn't very good that night, only scoring 52 points. But we guarded, we competed, we battled and we didn't let a missed layup, a missed shot or a turnover affect us on the defensive end — and I think that's what we've got to get back to.”
Mike Buhler - Daily American Republic