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Lady Ballers use long ball to win NASA women’s title

Lady Seminoles’ Ariah Osceola blocks a shot by Lady Ballers’ Courtney Osceola during the Native American Sports Association women’s championship Jan. 16 at the Howard Tiger Recreation Center in Hollywood.
Lady Seminoles’ Ariah Osceola blocks a shot by Lady Ballers’ Courtney Osceola during the Native American Sports Association women’s championship Jan. 16 at the Howard Tiger Recreation Center in Hollywood.

HOLLYWOOD — One of the shortest players in the Native American Sports Association (NASA) women’s tournament made a big impact.

Jenna Plumley, a 5-foot-4, high octane point guard from Oklahoma, scored 38 points as the Lady Ballers drained 15 3-pointers on their way to an 84-53 win against the Lady Seminoles in the championship Jan. 16 at the Howard Tiger Recreation Center in Hollywood.

The Lady Ballers featured players from a variety of Tribes, including Seminole and Miccosukee. Plumley, a Native from Oklahoma, put on a dazzling 3-point clinic by making 10 shots from beyond the arc, including a few from NBA range.

Plumley, 28, was an Oklahoma high school star and played at the University of Oklahoma and Lamar University. She also played professionally in Italy.

“This is my second year playing [in NASA],” said Plumley, who runs basketball clinics for kids. “I usually spend a lot of time here in Florida with my friends. It’s fun to come back and hang out.”

With Plumley wearing jersey No. 1 and Courtney Osceola in the No. 2 threads, the Lady Ballers’ 1-2 punch in the backcourt proved to be a powerful combination. When Plumley wasn’t dropping bombs, Osceola displayed a smooth scoring touch that resulted in 17 points, including three 3-pointers. Other production came from Tasha Osceola (10 points) and Anna Van Stippen (9 points).

“We have some great shooters,” said Van Stippen, a Florida resident from the Oneida Tribe in Wisconsin.

The Lady Ballers led 42-28 at halftime. Their lead grew to 60-42 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Plumley.

Ariah Osceola led the Lady Seminoles with 18 points followed by Kristen Billie with 12. The Lady Seminoles won their first two games of the tournament and finished with a 3-2 record.

The Lady Ballers, which went 4-0, featured Chantay Frazier, Adriana Huggins, Courtney Osceola, Juanita Osceola, Phalyn Osceola, Tasha Osceola, Jenna Plumley and Anna Van Stippen.

Women’s Legends

Southern Smoke, a Miccosukee team, won the women’s legends division, which featured just three teams. Southern Smoke topped the Lady Seminoles, 55-22, in the championship. Vodne Chapoosa scored 14 points and Stacy Jones had 12 points for the champions.

The Lady Seminoles received six points each from Gwen Smith, Shirley Clay and Danielle Jumper-Frye, and four points from Leslie Osceola. The Lady Seminoles played the championship with just five players.

 

Kevin Johnson
Kevin Johnson is senior editor. He has worked for The Seminole Tribune since 2014. He was previously an editor, photographer and reporter for newspapers in Southwest Florida and Connecticut. Contact Kevin at kevinjohnson@semtribe.com.
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