Former Ankeny Centennial player Tillie Smith and the North Iowa Area Community College women’s basketball team are headed to the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Division II national tournament.
Smith, a freshman guard, came off the bench and scored nine points to help the eighth-seeded Trojans to an 84-65 victory over ninth-seeded Lincoln Land CC Tuesday afternoon in the tournament’s opening round at the Tarlton Complex on the Catawba Valley CC campus in Hickory, N.C. She had injured an ankle during practice prior to the tournament, but recovered in time to make a career-best three 3-point goals against the Loggers.
Smith connected on 3-of-5 attempts from behind the arc. She also grabbed three rebounds and dished out three assists in 24 minutes of action.
NIACC (28-3) got 24 points from freshman Ciara Seifert and 22 from sophomore Reggi Spotts as the Trojans advanced to Thursday’s quarterfinals against No. 1 and defending national champion Johnson County CC (33-0). Spotts scored her 1,000th career point on a driving layup in the first quarter, becoming the fifth NIACC women’s player to reach the milestone.
Tuesday’s win was the Trojans’ first at the national tournament since they topped Wayne County CC, 90-74, in the first round of the 2019 tournament at Harrison, Ark.
Smith has played in 22 games with four starts this season. She is averaging 3.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists.