The North Iowa Area Community College women’s basketball team was hoping to pull off a major upset on Thursday.
And the Trojans nearly did it.
Eighth-seeded NIACC battled No. 1 and defending national champion Johnson County CC down to the wire before dropping a 79-77 decision in the NJCAA Division II quarterfinals at the Tarlton Complex on the Catawba Valley CC campus in Hickory, N.C.
Former Ankeny Centennial player Tillie Smith played 6 minutes off the bench and had one rebound for the Trojans, who finished the season with a 28-4 record.
The Cavaliers (34-0), who have won 38 straight games, built a 46-35 halftime lead before NIACC rallied. The Trojans closed the gap to 56-55 after three quarters.
The two teams traded baskets for much of the final period. Johnson County’s Layla Scott made a layup with 41 seconds left to break a 75-75 tie and Kara Stricklin added a free throw with 16 seconds to go.
NIACC got a jumper from Ciara Seifert with 1 second remaining, but it was only a two-point basket–cutting the deficit to 78-77. Scott was then fouled and made a free throw to produce the final margin.
Sophomore guard Reggi Spotts scored a game-high 25 points for the Trojans. Seifert finished with 23, and Zaria Falls added 20.
The 25 points by Spotts was the most in a national tournament game by a NIACC women’s basketball player since Jada Buford scored 34 points in a 116-105 loss to Cape Fear CC in the second round of the NJCAA Division II national tournament on March 20, 2019.
Seifert also collected a game-high 15 rebounds. It was her 17th double/double of her freshman campaign.