Millender Takes Over for Canyons

Seldom does a basketball coach have to tell his leading scorer that she is being too unselfish, but that’s what College of the Canyons Coach Jeff Dunlap told Tressie Millender.

As the Canyons women prepared Monday for their first state tournament appearance, Dunlap told Millender that it was time she took control.

Millender responded with 32 points, 22 in the second half, to lead fifth-seeded Canyons over visiting Fullerton, 71-66, Wednesday night in the first round of the Southern California regional of the women’s state junior college tournament.

“Thank God for Tressie Millender,” Dunlap said. “She decided she wanted to take us into the second round.”

Canyons struggled in building a 33-31 first-half lead against 12th-seeded Fullerton, a perennial qualifier and a team Dunlap called the North Carolina of women’s basketball.

Canyons trailed, 40-39, early in the second half when Millender took control. Millender, a 5-foot-10 sophomore forward, scored seven consecutive points on a rebound basket, a three-point shot and a layup.

“We were shaky,” said Millender, who grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. “I just told everybody to calm down, relax, and we’d get the job done.”

Fullerton (16-14) refused to quit, though, and trailed, 60-56, with less than 10 minutes left. However, Millender wasn’t finished, either.

She scored seven points in a 9-0 Canyons run that put the game out of reach, 69-56.

“This was a real learning experience for us,” Dunlap said. “I feel more comfortable about the second-round game than I did about this game.”

Canyons (24-7) had defeated Fullerton by 30 points earlier in the season, but the Lady Hornets played the first game without point guard Candi Burnett and forward Kris Kelley.