FOR RELEASE: Thursday, February 23, 2006

Kirtland Lady Firebirds end regular season with win over Macomb

ROSCOMMON – Kirtland’s Lady Firebirds basketball team capped an up-and-down season on a high point by defeating Macomb Community College 76-68 on Tuesday, Feb. 21, in Warren. The game put an end to regular-season play, but was a bright spot on which to build momentum heading into post-season play in the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament.

Head coach Teresa Stuck said she is happy with her team’s progress as they work toward the Thursday, March 2, tournament start at Delta College, located near Bay City. The 8 p.m. first-round contest pits Kirtland against St. Clair County CC, a team that narrowly defeated Kirtland twice this season.

“We really took care of the ball tonight, and had our lowest turnover output at 14 turnovers,” Stuck said, noting that the Firebirds also had as much as a 25-point lead over Macomb at one point. “That’s a great way for us to head into the tournament.”

Kirtland enters Thursday’s game with a 13-17 overall record, while St. Clair is 18-10 and ended season play in fourth place in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association with a 6-6 record.

The Lady Firebirds have fire power, however, and know how to use it, starting with freshman Lizz Stempki, of St. Ignace, who has led the team in points all season and netted 23 points while shooting 10-for-15 against Macomb. The 5’10” post player added 5 rebounds as well.

Freshman Rena Barnett, of LeRoy, is right behind Stempki in the points column and added 16 during Tuesday’s contest – including 4 three-point shots – as well as 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Barnett has an aggressive style of play, but at 5’7”, opposing defenses tend to overlook her until it’s too late.

Even at 5’6”, opposing teams don’t tend to miss Emily Henion, a Kirtland freshman from Frederic, who currently is No. 14 in the NJCAA Division II statistics column for assists, averaging 6.07 per game, and who leads the free-throw percentage column at 90 percent. Henion had 14 points against Macomb, along with 8 assists and 5 rebounds.

Freshman Chelsey Williams, of Houghton Lake, a 6’1” post player, is always a presence to be contended with and she added 10 points and 6 rebounds in Kirtland’s win over Macomb.

Ashley Andrews, a 5’4” sophomore from West Branch, also had 5 big rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Also putting forth a nice defensive effort was Natalie Foster, a freshman from Houghton Lake, who was up against Macomb’s leading scorer, Mattie Taylor – No. three scorer in the nation.

These Firebirds, along with Onica Jones (freshman, Rochester, N.Y.), Emilee Bruner (sophomore, Mio), Shekira Knowles and Evalyn Bain (freshmen, Nassau, Bahamas) will hope that the third time against St. Clair County is the charm.

For more on Firebirds athletics, log on at firebirds.kirtland.edu.