A journey considered improbable by most ended at a familiar location for the Trinity Valley Community College Lady Cardinals.

The Lady cardinals returned to the throne of NJCAA women's basketball Saturday night with a hard-earned, defensive-fueled 69-55 victory over the Independence Community College Lady Pirates in the national championship game at a packed Wagstaff Gymnasium.

"It was a tough year," third year Lady Cardinal coach Kurt Budke said minutes after the final buzzer and being drenched with ice water. "We had five new starters and nobody game this team much of a chance.

"This team felt like it had something to prove. Everybody said the last two years were a one-man team (Shalonda Enis). These kids wanted to come out and prove to the world that they're no one-man team.

"We don't win this title if we're a one-man team. It took a team effort to get back here and win this thing again. I've never been more proud of a group of kids. This is very satisfying."

Any doubters among the crowd of a round 2,500 probably began seeking the nearest exit in the second half as the Lady Cardinals turned up the defensive heat and crashed the boards. The Lady Pirates, who defeated TVCC 84-77 in November, were left frustrated by both.

"You saw a tough team out there tonight hold a team to 55 points in the national championship game," Budke said. "We proved tonight that defense still wins championships."

In claiming their second national crown in three years, the Lady Cardinals, the first team to ever reach the NJCAA title game three straight years, closed their season 32-4, representing their third consecutive 30-plus win season. Independence, making its fourth straight appearance in the tournament, ended its seas 34-4.

The Lady Pirates were successful in dictating the slower pace they prefer in the second half. Independence was on-target shooting the ball and Budke was forced to adjust his rotation with double-trouble posts Tausha Mills and Terri Mitchell both picking up a pair of fouls, preventing him from having the two on the floor at the same time for extended minutes.

But Budke turned the two loose in the second half and the tide went out on the Lady Pirates. Mills and Mitchell took over inside on both ends of the floor and Independence found no freedom.

Like they had done in Friday night's 85-77 victory over Casper Community College in the semifinals, Mills and Mitchell had big-time second-half performances, both scoring and rebounding.

Mills closed out her TVCC career with a second consecutive 25-point scoring effort and pulled down 13 rebounds. Mitchell, who had 29 in the win over Casper, finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Mills, Mitchell and Deronica Robinson, the Lady Cardinals' lone freshman starter, for the most part limited the Lady Pirates to one-shot offensive trips in the second half. Like Mills and Mitchell, Robinson had double-digit rebounds with 10 as the Lady Cardinals out rebounded the Lady Pirates by an overwhelming 45-18 margin.

Both teams experienced mini-runs in the first half.

Behind Mia McCoy, Mills and Mitchell, the Lady Cardinals fired the first salvo, taking a 9-4 lead. Independence came back to take a 15-11 lead on the strength of the shooting of post Jamie Gambrell and the backdoor cuts of Ewa Laskowska.

Without Mills and Mitchell on the floor at the same time, Independence was able to extend its defense. Rebecca Baragry and Sarah Allen made life miserable for the Lady Cardinals around the perimeter, denying Jennifer Sposato passing lines and stepping out to cut off outside shot opportunities for Miranda Serna, Kesha Paul and McCoy.

Independence led 26-24 at he half.

"I wasn't worried at halftime," Budke said. "I knew we were playing good defense. I felt our depth would eventually wear them down."

Budke, like all season, kept a steady flow of traffic from his bench in the second half. But more than anything else, he was able to keep his tow big trucks – Mills and Mitchell – in the game together more and more in the minutes down the stretch.

Whether on the floor together or separately, Mills and Mitchell were more than any combination of players the Lady Pirates used against them could handle with any degree of effectiveness.

With 10:16 to go, Independence lost one of those players when Laronda Walker was forced to the bench with a fourth foul. Walker later returned only to foul out at the 4:30 mark trying to defend a lob pass inside in the direction of Mills and Mitchell.

With Walker, the most athletic of Independence's inside players, out of the game, Independence had no realistic hopes of containing Mills and Mitchell.

TVCC took the lead for good at the 13:40 mark, 35-33, on a Consquela Brown jumper from the left wing. Mills and Robinson followed with shots off rebounds to extend the margin.

Walker, just prior to being whistled for her fourth foul, kept Independence close over the next minute and-a-half. In addition to cashing a rebound for points and hitting two free throws, Walker also drew the third foul on Mills.

Even with Mills out for the next four minutes, the Lady Cardinals went on a 7-0 spurt to open up an 11-point lead, 46-35, with 8:20 to go. McCoy fueled the run with a baseline move for a layup and a three-pointer from deep in the left corner.

Baragry, Gambrell and Laskowska enabled the Lady Pirates to get back within five three times over the next three minutes. But with the game now far enough along, Budke had Mills and Mitchell on the floor together pretty much for the duration.

After Baragry found a crease in the TVCC defense for a layup, pulling the Lady Pirates within 50-45 with 5:10 left, Mills went on one of her trademark tears inside. The 6-3 Garland sophomore hit TVCC's next seven points at the Lady Cardinals opened up a 57-47 lead with 3:27 remaining.

The Lady Pirates then found themselves of having to abandon their preferred half-court game for a faster pace. But the task was too difficult with Sposato, the tournament's Most Valuable player, Paul, McCoy and Serna stalking the ball out front and Mills and Mitchell packed inside.