The Lady Cards are headed back to their mid-March home away from home.
For a 13th straight year and 25th time overall, the Lady Cards punched a ticket the NJCAA Women's Basketball National Tournament with a 70-57 win Saturday afternoon against the Angelina College Lady Roadrunners. The Region XIV Tournament championship game was played at the Gold Dome on the campus of Centenary College in Shreveport, La.
The national tournament is scheduled March 17-21 in Lubbock at the Rip Griffin Center on the campus of Lubbock Christian University. Seedings and at-large selections are scheduled to be announced at 10:30 a.m. today. The seedings/selections will be announced online at https://njcaachampstv.com/landing/index. They will also be available on the NJCAA's Facebook page and Twitter feed.
"I am very proud of these ladies," said Precious Ivy, who is 17-0 as interim head coach. "They have had had to overcome a change and challenges this season and handled them like the champions they are.
"We are very excited to have won the regional title, but have more we want to accomplish. We have celebrated and now we turn our attention to the national tournament."
The Lady Cards appeared to be en route to a big win in the second quarter. That was before Angelina went on 13-0 run in the final 4:40 to move into a 32-31 halftime lead.
The Lady Cards had an answer, though, as the second half began, going on a 10-0 run to retake control on the contest. They would not trail again.
Tournament MVP Curtessia Dean paced the Lady Cards with 27 points, including two three-pointers.
Asia Strong, who was an all-tournament selection along with Tiya Douglas, came up big for the Lady Cards. She had 20 points, 18 coming in the first half. She also had a team-high 15 rebounds. Douglas finished with eight points, including two three-pointers.
Taiyanna Jackson netted 14 rebounds, seven points and four blocked shots.
The Lady Cards will carry a 32-1 record to the national tournament. Angelina, the defending Region XIV champion, closed its season 19-13.
