POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River women's basketball team isn't done yet. The National Junior College Athletic Association announced its 24-team field for the upcoming Division I Women's National Tournament and the Wildcats earned an at-large bid and the No. 13 seed.
The tournament in Casper, Wyoming is scheduled to run March 26 – April 1. The Wildcats will square off with 20-seed Eastern Arizona on March 26 at 8 p.m. CT. The winner advances to face 4-seed Collin County on March 28 at 1 p.m. CT.
"We are elated for our program with the growth it has made from nine years ago to today," head coach Scotty Fletcher said. "Every team ends their season somewhere and our goal when we started this season was to end it where the national tournament was. I'm just so proud of the girls and our assistant coaches for their contributions daily. At this time of the year, there are only 24 teams left and we're just so blessed to be one of those 24."
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Pearl River will make its first appearance since 2003 at the NJCAA DI Women's National Tournament after finishing the regular season with an incredible 27-4 record. PRCC's 27 wins were the most in a single season in program history and were tied for the second-most among all NJCAA Division I programs. The Wildcats were named MACCC Co-Champions after finishing with a 13-1 conference record.
Pearl River was peppered all throughout the NJCAA leaderboards. The Wildcats were first in the country defensively, holding opponents to an incredible 45.8 points on average. The Wildcats came in at 5th in the NJCAA in steals per game with an average of 14.7.
Offensively, PRCC averages the 16th most points per game with a mark of 77.2. PRCC's 17.3 offensive rebounds per game ranks seventh best in the NJCAA.
Taylor Johnson-Matthews (Cleveland, Ohio; Charles F. Brush) has been electric for PRCC all season long. She leads the Wildcats in points (18.9), rebounds (6.5) and steals (2.6). Avery Young (Iota, La.) averages 10.5 points and leads the team in assists per game with 3.7. She also chips in 2.9 rebounds. Hama'ya Fielder (Philadelphia; Neshoba Central) is third on the team in points per game with 9.9.
ABOUT EASTERN ARIZONA
Also finishing the season with a 27-4 record, Eastern Arizona received an at-large bid into the tournament and were named the 20-seed.
Much like the Wildcats, the Monsters are a very defensive team and rank fourth in the country in points allowed per game at 49. They are first in the country in opponent field goal percentage, holding teams to 30.9 percent shooting. Eastern Arizona also limits the 3-point damage, forcing teams to shoot 22.7 percent from beyond the arc.
Vitoria Santana leads the Gila Monsters in points per game (16.3), rebounds per game (8.2), assists per game (3.9) and steals per game (2.9).
Elva Chavez is the only other player averaging double figures, coming in with a mark of 12 points per game. She also averages 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
Gracie Sorensen averages 7.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks.
HOW TO WATCH
The first round through the semifinal round will be livestreamed on ESPN+. The Championship game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
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