MASON CITY - For the ninth straight season, the NIACC women's basketball team has landed at least one player on the NJCAA Region XI first-team.
This season the first team selection is freshman
Kourtney Manning, a 6-foot-0 forward from Hibbing, Minn.
Manning averaged 15.4 points per game (308 points) and 8.4 rebounds per contest (168). She also collected 51 steals and blocked 21 shots.
Manning was selected as the ICCAC women's basketball player of the week and the NJCAA Division II national player of the week for the week of Feb. 8-14.
Manning was also a NJCAA Region XI-B all-tournament selection.
Manning scored a career-high 25 points against the Graceland University Junior Varsity and grabbed a career-best 17 rebounds against Ellsworth.
Also, NIACC sophomore
Abby Leach was a second-team selection. Leach earned third-team all-region honors as a freshman.
Leach averaged 12.0 points per game (144 points) and 4.3 rebounds per game (42) in her sophomore season that was limited to 12 games.
Leach had 25 assists and blocked 21 shots.
Iowa Central's Isabell West was the region's player of the year and DMACC's Grace Flanagan was the region's newcomer of the year.
The defensive player of the year award went to Iowa Central's Nevaeh Galloway and the coach of the year was Kirkwood's Kim Muhl.
The 2021 All-Region teams were selected by the head coaches of the ICCAC. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players.
FIRST-TEAM ALL-NJCAA REGION XI
Jada Powell (DMACC), soph.; Grace Flanagan (DMACC), fr.; Nevaeh Galloway (Iowa Central), fr.; Isabell West (Iowa Central), soph.; Tatiana Hodges Johnson (Kirkwood), soph.; Kortney Drake (Kirkwood), soph.; Kemara Watson (Kirkwood), soph.; Ashley Tull (Kirkwood), soph.; Kourtney Manning (NIACC), fr.; Brielle Baker (Southwestern), fr.
SECOND-TEAM ALL-NJCAA REGION XI
Magan Christopherson (DMACC), fr.; Autumn Dykstra (Iowa Central), fr.; Carley West (Iowa Central), fr.; Rachel Puok (Iowa Lakes), fr.; Jaeda Whitner (Iowa Lakes), fr.; Karsyn Stratton (Kirkwood), fr.; Naya Haymon (Kirkwood), fr.; Abby Leach (NIACC), soph.; Alyssa Morris (Southwestern), fr.; Kaylynn Tucker (Southwestern), soph.
THIRD-TEAM ALL-NJCAA REGION XI
Emily Caspers (DMACC), fr.; Keara Williams (Ellsworth), soph.; Ellie Barrows (Ellsworth), soph.; Madison Hough (Iowa Lakes), fr.; Rachel Breck (Iowa Lakes), fr.; Tasia Jordan (Kirkwood), fr.; Maddie Paulsen (Kirkwood), soph.; Antuanae Garrett (Southeastern), fr.; Michenna Davis (Southeastern), fr.; Whynter Waterhouse (Southwestern), soph.
