NORTHEAST ADVANCES TO REGION 11-B CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER HUGE DAY ON THE ROAD AGAINST IOWA LAKES

ESTHERVILLE, Iowa – The Northeast Community College women's basketball team traveled to Estherville, Iowa Saturday to compete against Iowa Lakes Community College in the Region 11-B Tournament Semifinals. The Hawks took down the Lakers by a final score of 66-56 to advance to the championship game Monday night.

Northeast (19-10, 13-9 ICCAC) entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed and had lost their two matchups with the No. 6 seed Iowa Lakes squad during the regular season, but the Hawks came out firing and jumped ahead 9-0 early in the contest. Aaliyah Jones (Rapid City, S.D.) was everywhere for Northeast in what could've been her final matchup with the Hawks during her storied career as the sophomore tallied 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for a double-double.

Freshman Ayana Owens (Lincon, Neb.) also came up huge in her first taste of postseason play as she recorded 15 points as Northeast led wire-to-wire in the showdown. The Hawks will now face No. 2 seed North Iowa Area Community College, who is ranked No. 12 in the nation, at 5:30 p.m. Monday night in Mason City, Iowa for a chance to bring a region championship back home to Norfolk.

STAT SHEET:

Aaliyah Jones (Rapid City, S.D.): 15 PTS, 13 REB, 4 AST, 4 STL

Ayana Owens (Lincoln, Neb.): 15 PTS, 3 STL

Jana Lopez (Girona, Spain): 10 PTS, 2 STL

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:

Head Women's Basketball Coach Matt Svehla on taking down Iowa Lakes:

"Very gritty and gutsy effort by our group on the road," Svehla said. "We got off to a great start and that early lead gave us a great boost. Lakes made a run at us, but we were able to manage things to get the win."

Svehla on advancing to the Region 11-B Championship Monday night:

"We are super excited to be moving on, and we will need to play well on the road against a strong NIACC team," Svehla said.

UP NEXT:

The Hawks will take on No. 12 North Iowa Area Community College at 5:30 p.m. Monday night in Mason City, Iowa in the Region 11-B Tournament Championship.

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