Cyclone women’s basketball ends respectable season on big stage

The 2019-20 Moraine Valley Community College women’s basketball team had big shoes to fill after the success of last year’s squad, but they continued the program’s winning ways, earned honors and maintained a high-level competitive edge.

The Cyclones started the season ranked No. 13 in NJCAA Division II. Only three returned from last year’s team that finished eighth at the national tournament but had strong recruits in the mix. In the end, Moraine Valley had a 23-9 overall record and went 7-3 in the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference. They collected 18 wins by 10 or more points and nearly qualified for nationals a second consecutive year.

Moraine Valley hosted the NJCAA Region IV finals for men and women, giving the Cyclones a home advantage. They faced Kankakee Community College, a team that dealt them a 92-58 loss in January. This matchup determined who would compete at nationals. The Cyclones led for most of game and barely lost the hard-fought battle 67-61 to end the season.

“I don’t think a lot of people in the region expected us to be in the finals after losing our core from last year’s team, but this group helped carry on the Moraine Valley tradition and kept us respectable. At times, we were scary with how we scored. Whether we won or lost that last game, I already believed I had a wonderful group of women who were coachable and wanted to get better every game. And we really did get better as the season went along,” said Head Coach Delwyn Jones, who ended his 20th season running the show.

Sophomore forward Nicole Poole (Sandburg) was one of the most improved players from last year’s group. She was named to the All-Region Tournament team and earned an All-Conference honorable mention while tallying eight double-doubles and averaging 10.4 rebounds per game. She was No. 3 in the NJCAA for defensive rebounds (247) and No. 8 for total rebounds (332).

Of the newcomers, forward Kirsten Kamholz (Andrew) and guard Chelsea Cross (Plainfield North) took the lead on offense. Kamholz was an NJCAA All-American nominee, Region IV Player of the Year, named to the All-Region Tournament team and earned All-Region and All-Conference first team honors. She averaged 17.2 points per game and ranked 10th nationally for steals (107) and 12th in points (550). Cross earned All-Tournament and All-Region team as well as All-Conference second team honors. She averaged 14.2 points per game and was ranked third in the NJCAA for free throws (165-231). Both are set to return next season.

“I believe we set the stage for next year. The freshmen have the chance to continue their growth. The sophomores are leaving for the next level as much better athletes and people,” Jones said. “I’m proud at how far these young women came, and they were mostly freshmen, so we had a long way to go. They improved so much as players and women.”