HARRISON -- Hot Springs alum Berniezha Tidwell was named to the 2018 National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Women's Basketball Championship All-Tournament Team Saturday after leading Highland Community College to third place in the country.
Tidwell averaged more than 16 points per game through four games last week in Harrison for the Scotties (35-1), who won the third-place game, 87-79, against Mesa Community College (28-7) at Pioneer Pavilion on the campus of North Arkansas College. She averaged 15.3 points per game for the season.
The victory avenged the Scotties' loss to Mesa in the 2014 national championship game. The team's 35 wins is the most in program history and the third-place finish is Highland's best result behind the runner-up season in 2014.
Highland led by as many as six points in the first quarter and carried a 21-18 lead into the second. The Scotties outscored the Thunderbirds, 26-13, in the quarter to lead 47-31 by halftime.
Leading scorer Mariane De Caravalaho led Highland on an 11-0 run out of halftime, but Mesa fought back into the game. The lead decreased to four points at 68-64 with five minutes left in the game, but Highland secured the win with free throws down the stretch.
Caravalho posted a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Kamryn Lemon had her best game of the tournament with 18 points.
Tidwell finished with 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Highland was in the third-place game after seeing its undefeated season interrupted on Friday with a loss to No. 2 Kirkwood Community College (34-4), 77-74, in the semifinals. The Scotties led 65-58 in the third quarter before Kirkwood, the defending national champion, seized control with a 15-0 run into the fourth quarter.
No. 1 Monroe Community College (33-2) held off Kirkwood, 62-58, in Saturday's final.
Sports on 03/26/2018