ROAD LOSS DROPS KCKCC WOMEN INTO TIE FOR THIRD PLACE

            Brown Mackie threw a monkey wrench into Kansas City Kansas Community College's hopes of wrapping up a first round playoff berth with an 81-74 upset of the No. 10 ranked Lady Blue Devils Wednesday.

            The Lady Blue Devils' loss dropped them into a three-way tie for third place with Brown Mackie and Hesston, all at 3-5, with KCKCC facing another road test at Hesston Saturday at 2 p.m. The third and fourth place finishers in the six-team conference will host first round playoff games March 1 against the fifth and sixth place teams. Johnson County and Highland have wrapped up the two first round women's byes. Both are 7-1 after Johnson's 65-61 overtime win at Highland Wednesday.

            The Blue Devils dug themselves a first half hole from which they could not escape in suffering a third straight loss. Just 10 of 33 the first half for 30.3 percent, Brown Mackie forged a 39-27 lead by drilling 7 of 15 3-point attempts and then held off the Blue Devils by shooting 51.6 percent the second half. KCKCC had a 47-42 scoring edge the second half by shooting 45.9 percent.

            The Blue Devils had four players score in double figures but the Lady Lions had six and got a whopping 55 points off the bench to just six for KCKCC. Julia Garrard led the Blue Devils with 11 points and a game high 12 rebounds while Rashaun Casey led all scorers with 18 points. Cassidy Harbert added 16 points, five rebounds and five assists, Imani White 14 points and Janai Crawford nine points and six rebounds.