Heartbreaker: Trojans fall to No. 1 Johnson County CC 79-77
HICKORY, N.C. - The NIACC women's basketball team dropped a 79-77 decision to No. 1 Johnson County CC in the NJCAA Division II quarterfinals Thursday at the Tarlton Complex on the Catawba Valley CC campus.
Johnson County CC, the defending national champion, jumped out to a 26-17 lead after the first quarter. The Cavaliers, who have won 38 straight games, outscored the Trojans 20-18 in the second quarter to take a 46-35 lead at the halftime break.
NIACC (28-4) climbed back into the contest by outscoring Johnson County CC 20-10 in the third quarter to trim the deficit to 56-55 after three quarters.
Johnson County scored 23 points in the final frame compared to 22 for the Trojans to advance to Friday night's final four contest against either Pima CC or Union County.
Johnson County CC was led by Mia Adams with 20 points and five rebounds. The Cavaliers' Jade Warren came off the bench to score 15 points.
NIACC was led by sophomore guard Reggi Spotts with a game-high 25 points. The Trojans also received 23 points from freshman forward Ciara Seifert and 20 points from freshman guard Zaria Falls.
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, who scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the Trojans' tournament opening victory over Lincoln Land CC, also collected a game-high 15 rebounds. It was Seifert's 17th double/double of her freshman campaign.
It was Seifert's third straight double/double as she also garnered a double/double in the NJCAA Region 11-B title game against Northeast CC.
Seifert collected a total of 359 rebounds, which ranks second on the school's all-time single-season rebounding list.
Spotts also had four rebounds and four assists against the Cavaliers.
Spotts finished her incredible NIACC career with 1,043 career points, which ranks fourth on the school's career scoring list. She also finished in the top 10 in career 3-point goals (sixth with 125) and steals (fifth with 182).
NIACC freshman guard Machaela Trask scored five points with five assists, three rebounds and two steals. Falls collected four rebounds with two assists and one steal.
