NIACC stops DMACC in tourney opener, 75-64

MASON CITY - For the second straight season, the NIACC women's basketball team has advanced to the NJCAA Region XI final four.

NIACC (19-11) stopped DMACC 75-64 in the opening round of the regional tournament Wednesday night in the NIACC gym. Sophomore point guard Audrey Martinez-Stewart scored a career-high 26 points with eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Martinez-Stewart's previous career high was 24 points against Iowa Lakes on Jan. 12, 2022. The 26 points by Martinez-Stewart is the most in a game by a NIACC women's player since Jackie Pippett scored 26 points against Ellsworth on Dec. 7, 2022.

NIACC stopped Iowa Lakes 61-56 in the opening round of the 2022 regional tournament before bowing out in the semifinals to eventual national champion Kirkwood.

Fourth-seed NIACC faces top-seed Kirkwood at 1 p.m. Saturday in the regional semifinals in Cedar Rapids. No. 3 Kirkwood (27-2) stopped eighth-seed Ellsworth 97-38 in its tournament opener on Wednesday.

Second-seed Iowa Western faces sixth-seed Northeast CC in the second semifinal game at 3 p.m. Saturday.

In Wednesday's tournament win, NIACC led 23-13 after the first quarter. The Trojans outscored the Bears 16-13 in the second quarter to take a 39-26 lead at the half.

NIACC sophomore post player Jackie Pippett scored 12 points with five rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots.

Also for the Trojans, sophomore Kourtney Manning scored 11 points with eight rebounds, six steals and three assists. Kameron Jones scored 11 points and Keiara Anderson scored nine points with five rebounds.

DMACC was led by freshman Jaden Ainley with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Jensen Archibald was next in line for the Bears with 18 points.

NIACC and DMACC split their two games in the regular season with both teams winning on their home court. NIACC won 65-48 on Dec. 3 in Mason City and the Bears won 71-63 on Jan. 25 in Boone.