Winona, MN-
Women's basketball teams from around the Minnesota College Athletic Conference move into the push for the post-season in both the Northern and Southern Divisions.
At stake is one of four berths into the 2019-20 NJCAA Region XIIIA or Region XIIIB post-season tournaments. Each four-team tournament will be held on the campus of top regular season finisher. Both competitions will run on February 29 and March1. Read on for more as the MCAC women's squads focus their sights on extending their seasons.
MCAC Northern Division:
Rainy River Community College picked up an important win over Northland in January, en route to a 9-0 Divisional mark and 13-8 overall record so far. Head coach Dieter Humbert and RRCC are in the drivers seat to claim regular season honors and post-season hosting responsibilities, but will face Northland on the road as a part of their five remaining games. If the Voyagers can win out over the next two weeks, RRCC will host the Region XIIIB post-season. Rainy River cracked the NJCAA Top 15 Poll this week, joining NCTC, Anoka-Ramsey and Western Tech.
Standing in the Voyaguers way is Northland Community & Technical College, who is one of three teams with double-digit wins so far in the Northern Division. The Pioneers are also featured in the national rankings and have proven to be a particularly tough opponent at home over the years. Northland will play three of their final four games in Thief River Falls and are 14-5 currently.
Hibbing Community College and Mesabi Range College look to have an inside track on a playoff berth, but both teams will need to notch some 'W''s in the upcoming weeks to feel comfortable in advancing to the post-season. Hibbing beat Mesabi Range in January, but the Norse could even the series when the two teams face off again Wednesday, February 12. With many tiebreaker scenarios in play, both teams will pay extra attention at the opportunities to take on Central Lakes and Northland.
Central Lakes College also has a route to the Region XIIIB post-season and will hope to add some victories to their total in the last two weeks of the regular season. Their final game of the MCAC North schedule features an opportunity to take on Rainy River, a game that could affect several squads in the mix. With a few upsets, Lake Superior College also could craft a path to the playoffs; the Icehawks will need to win out the rest of the way and hope for some help from those teams above them in the standings.
Itasca Community College and Vermilion Community College find themselves sitting in spoiler roles as the season heads into the final push across Northern Minnesota.
MCAC Southern Division:
Anoka-Ramsey Community College and Western Technical College both have picked up the attention of the NJCAA Division III Poll committee, with 15-5 and 16-5 overall records respectively.
ARCC picked up a two-point win over WTC in their first match-up, keeping the Golden Ram squad undefeated in the Southern Division. Western Tech has gone 7-2 since January 1, and the Cavaliers will be looking forward to their re-match with Anoka-Ramsey in the regular season game of the year on February 22.
Minnesota West is 4-2 in the Division, and will get an opportunity to climb the standings ladder with games against Western Tech and Anoka-Ramsey yet to play this month. Like Western Tech, the Lady Jays are also 7-2 to start the new year and hope to gain momentum heading into post-season.
St. Cloud Technical & Community College and Ridgewater College look poised to battle each other for a playoff spot. The two teams split their regular season match-ups, with SCTCC beating Ridgewater in early January but the Warriors claimed a seven-point win at home over the Cyclones in the rematch. With the 1-1 record against each other, both teams are hoping to knock off a squad above them in the standings to gain the edge in the tiebreaker. Ridgewater has four games remaining, while SCTCC has three contests left to go.
Riverland Community College will look to play the spoiler role in remaining Southern Division action; the Blue Devils have three MCAC games remaining and a non-conference tilt against Bethany Lutheran College yet to go to close out 2019-20.
For more on MCAC Women's Basketball, please go to: https://www.mcacsports.org/sports/mbkb/index
NJCAA Basketball, including National Top15 Poll and Player-of-the-Week releases can be found at: https://www.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/index
The Minnesota College Athletic Conference is the organizational body for NJCAA-affiliated two-year technical and community college athletic programs in the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system, as well as select member colleges in North Dakota and Wisconsin. The mission of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference is to advance intercollegiate athletics by providing an engaging and supportive environment for success of our student athletes and competition among member institutions. The MCAC is committed to the guiding principles of encouraging the development and success of student athletes, promoting the integrity, honesty and loyalty to member schools as well as upholding the sustainability of conference athletic programs.
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