PORT HURON, MI. - Iliana Williams hit a go-ahead jumper with 2 seconds remaining Friday to lift the St. Clair County Community College women's basketball team to a dramatic 85-84 victory against Mid Michigan College in the consolation round of the inaugural SC4 Thumbcoast Tip-Off at the SC4 Fieldhouse. 

 

"I was really nervous, but I was saying in my head before the play even started, 'If I catch the ball, I'm going to shoot it. And it's going to go in,'" Williams said. "That's what I was saying to myself. I was ready to catch it and shoot it. When it went in, I was really, really hype and I just wanted to go hug my teammates." 

 

The clutch bucket sends the No. 16 Skippers to the fifth-place game at 3 p.m. Saturday against Lansing Community College. No. 8 Mid Michigan will play Edison State in the seventh-place game at 1 p.m. Both games will be played at the Fieldhouse. 

 

Bailey Gormley led all scorers with 31 points for the Skippers and came up with the game-sealing steal on Mid Michigan's final inbound play. She also had 11 rebounds. Bre Jefferson added 21 points for the Skippers, while Sylver Bowles and Williams each had 10. Williams added six rebounds, and Mackenzie Royal-Davis had eight points and eight rebounds. 

 

Mid Michigan was led by Paige Ebels, who scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds. Rachel Resio added 19 points, and Chloe Watson had nine points and six rebounds.  

 

With the win, SC4 now has a top 10 victory under its belt, and has played in one-possession games in each of the first two nights of the Thumbcoast Tip-Off tournament. Those are the big moments coach Mike Groulx hopes can help get his team back to national prominence. 

 

"I talk to these girls about our history here with me as a head coach – we went to back-to-back national Final Fours, my only three years as a head coach we won the league title, we went to three straight national tournaments and we were ranked top 5 in the nation each year," Groulx said. "These girls put on that jersey to live in that legacy and restore that tradition here. They know what they signed up for, and they know what wearing Skippers across their chest means. Now, we got a lot of work to do, we're nowhere near where we need to be, but the competitiveness in the second half showed that we're taking strides in the right direction." 

 

It was also the second straight night the Skippers erased a large deficit. While they came just short of completing the comeback on Thursday against Harcum College, they not only fully came back from 17 down against the Lakers, but also a six-point deficit in the final 2 minutes, 30 seconds. 

 

"I think it shows the love we have for this sport," Williams said. "We just need to start the game stronger instead of having to claw our way back late in the game. But we are a great team, and I'm really proud of all my teammates."