- DMACC sophomore Whitney Jensen leads all scorers with 19 points
- Freshman Alivia Carr adds 10 points
- Freshman Jordan Valley comes away with 10 rebounds
Sophomore Whitney Jensen of Remsen led all scorers with 19 points as the DMACC women's basketball team opened the 2026 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Women's Basketball Championship with a 62-47 win over Monroe County Community College (MCCC) March 16 at Hickory, N.C.
DMACC is making its first-ever appearance in the tournament.
Freshman Alivia Carr of Bettendorf came off the bench to score 10 points and freshman Jordan Valley of Waverly pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds as the Bears improved to 26-8 for the season with their fifth consecutive win and their 13th win in their last 15 games.
MCCC, led by 15 points from Zakieya Williams, takes a 23-8 record into the consolation bracket. The loss ended the Tribune's eight-game winning streak.
MCCC, seeded 20th, took a 2-0 lead on a jumper from Taryn Goodness with the game 12 seconds old, but sophomore Chloe Costello of Northwood answered for DMACC 12 seconds later and Jensen it a three-pointer at the 7 minute, 55 second mark of the opening quarter for a 5-2 advantage and the Bears led the rest of the way.
DMACC, the tournament's No. 13 seed, had a 10-point lead at 16-6 on a layup from freshman Mariam Omran with just less than three-minutes left in the quarter and was up 21-9 leading into the second period. The Bears pushed their advantage to 17 points, 28-11, on a pair of free throws from sophomore Missy Evizic of Council Bluffs and held a 34-21 advantage at halftime.
MCCC never got closer than 11 points in the second half and DMACC led by as many as 19 points. The Bears were ahead 50-35 at the end of the third quarter.
DMACC shot 30 percent in the win, making 22 of 73 field goal attempts. The Bears were 4-of-19 from three-point range and 14-of-20 from the free throw line.
MCCC made 18 of 56 field goal attempts for 32 percent shooting, including 3-of-17 from three-point range. The Tribune made eight of 12 attempts from the free throw line.
Valley's 10 rebounds lifted DMACC to a 53-41 advantage on the boards. Sophomore Breeley Clayburg of Coon Rapids pulled down eight rebounds and freshman Mariam Omran of Giza, Egypt, and Carr had six apiece. Valley, Clayburg and Omran led the Bears in assists with three apiece and Jensen had a team-leading seven steals. Omran added five steals.
The DMACC women's basketball team will face fourth-seeded Pima Community College (PCC) in a second-round game March 17 at 9 a.m. (CDT). PCC is 26-4 with a 14-game winning streak.
The 2026 NJCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship continues through March 21 at Hickory, N.C.
