MAC women suffer third straight road loss after furious rally

SEDALIA, Mo. — The Mineral Area women’s basketball team completed its second stunning comeback of the season Saturday night, erasing an 18-point deficit over the final nine minutes against State Fair.

Adella Randle-El dashed the Lady Cardinals’ hopes of salvaging their first Region 16 road win, however, knocking down a baseline jumper with five seconds left.

Antounette Taylor scored 12 points, Sannayiah Johnson added 11 and the Lady Roadrunners forced 25 Mineral Area turnovers to escape with a 61-59 victory.

Brittany Lawson powered in a game-high 21 points for the Lady Cardinals, who trailed 53-35 after being completely dominated over a 10-minute stretch of the second half.

Lawson sparked the rally with consecutive field goals, and her 3-point play in transition brought MAC to within 57-54 with 2:15 to play after Janelle Travis made a previous steal and layup.

The possession arrow favored Mineral Area on a scramble following a missed shot, and Chelsea Roberts capitalized inside for a 3-point play that forged a 59-59 tie with 28 seconds left.

Roberts finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. Ashleigh Bow scored 11 for Mineral Area (17-4), which entered this week ranked 13th in the nation. Travis dished out eight assists.

The Lady Cardinals connected on just 1-of-14 attempts from 3-point range, but jumped ahead 20-11 after Lawson’s fourth basket off the bench capped an 11-0 run.

State Fair (16-5) answered with 3-point plays from Johnson and Apiphany Woods. The contest was tied 26-26 at halftime.