No. 9 Express Women Kick Off NJCAA D-II Tournament Against No. 13 CC of Rhode Island
East Peoria, IL.---The No. 9 Express women's basketball team was selected as the #7 seed for the NJCAA D-II National Tournament and will kick off tournament play against #10 seed Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI).
By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
East Peoria, IL.---The No. 9 Express women's basketball team was selected as the #7 seed for the NJCAA D-II National Tournament and will kick off tournament play against #10 seed Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI).
The game, which will be played at 9 a.m. on Tuesday March 19, will be the first game of the 16-team, double elimination tournament.
CCRI, who was ranked #13 in the final NJCAA D-II poll, comes into tournament play with a 24-5 overall record. They come out of District O. Their leading scorer is Jahira Smith, coming in at 18 points per game, while Allexia Barros (16 ppg), Nyjah Porcher (15.6 ppg) and Ahnyyah Jackson (12 ppg) also average double figures. Porcher leads the team with 11.2 rebounds per game.
The Express, meanwhile, feature a 25-7 overall record. They won the OCCAC championship and then captured the District I championship with a 69-65 win over Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.
This year's NJCAA D-II tournament appearance marks the fifth in program history for the Express. They went in 1997-98 (7th place), 1998-99 (8th place), 2002-03 (6th place) and 2003-04 (9th place).
The tournament's top overall seed is Mesa Community College (Ariz.), followed by Louisburg College (NC), Illinois Central College, St. Clair County Community College (Mich.) and Lake Michigan College.
Lake Michigan is the defending national runner-up, while Monroe College (NY), the two-time defending national champion, is the #9 overall seed.
Should the Express win their first round matchup, they would take on the winner of the 2 vs 15 matchup, which is Louisburg College vs Erie Community College (NY). That game would take place at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
Should the Express lose, they would take on the loser of that 2 vs 15 matchup at 9 a.m. on Thursday.
The tournament's semifinals and finals will be held on Friday and Saturday, with the national championship game being held at 7:30 p.m. on that Saturday, March 23.
You can follow all things related to the tournament by visiting the official website - here. Once at that site, you can locate where to watch the games via web stream for free, as well as where to follow the action on Facebook and Twitter.
You can follow the action of each Express game at OwensExpress.com, or by visiting our Twitter page (@owensexpress). We will also update our Facebook page, Owens Express Athletics.