Monday’s home victory by Catawba Valley Community College gave head coach Tisha England (right) 82 career wins, tying her for the school record held by the program’s first head coach, Tommy Edwards (left)./CVCC PHOTO
HobbsDailyReport.com
HICKORY – Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) women’s basketball team earned a historic 64-62 victory over visiting Bryant & Stratton College (Va.) on Monday afternoon.
Head coach Tisha England gained her 82nd career win as CVCC’s head coach, tying her with the Tommy Edwards – the school’s first women’s head coach – for most victories in program history.
“It is a great honor to be at the same number (of wins) as him,” England said. “Tommy Edwards is a great friend and mentor. I am grateful.”
Edwards attended Monday’s game.
“I had actually thought about (the record) earlier before the season started,” Edwards said. “This is (England’s) fifth season … and it ran across my mind that she was getting pretty close (to the win record).
“I didn’t know today she was tying me, but it worked out very well for me to be here.”
Sophomore forward Joyous Wilson paced CVCC (10-3, 5-0 Region X) with 16 points against the Bobcats.
Tory Agrusa (13 points, six assists), Zharia Brown (10 points, nine rebounds) and Nikkyana McCaskill (10 points) also reached double digits for CVCC.
The Red Hawks led for most of the game, but the Bobcats fought back late to take their first lead, 58-56, with two minutes, 44 seconds left to play.
The teams traded the lead three times in the final 35.8 seconds, but the Red Hawks were able to pull ahead for good after a key steal and layup by sophomore Shaniya Lester.
“We are warriors. We don’t give up,” England said. “I tell them every day that we’ve got to continue to press through it and learn how to overcome adversity. In the end, we wanted it.”
England will attempt to pass Edwards as the winningest coach in program history on Thursday when CVCC plays a home game (5:30 p.m.) against Patrick Henry Community College. Admission is free.
–Reported by CVCC Sports Information