MASON CITY – The NIACC women’s basketball team (17-12, 10-5) hosts Ellsworth (11-17, 4-10) in its final regular season game Wednesday.
Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. in the NIACC gym,
“We’re looking to finish the conference season on a positive note and carry our momentum into the regional tournament,” NIACC coach Kelli Terrell said. “Ellsworth was a tough matchup for us the first time around. Our girls are playing with a lot of confidence.”
NIACC, which topped Ellsworth 97-94 in double overtime in January, is in fourth place in the ICCAC with its 10-5 mark. If NIACC beats Ellsworth and Kirkwood beats DMACC on Saturday, the Lady Trojans would be the third seed in the Region XI tournament, which starts March 6.
NIACC is guaranteed to host a first-round game on March 6. The winner of the first round games on March 6 advance to the Region XI final four March 8-9 on the Southeastern Community College campus in Keokuk.
NIACC, which has won four straight games, is led by freshmen guards Chelsey Jacox and Lateeka Thompson, who both average 14.1 points per contest.
Ellsworth is led by sophomore forward Britteny Steffeny, who averages 13.8 points per game.
In the men’s game, NIACC (18-10, 5-7) looks to push its home-court winning streak to six games against Ellsworth (16-10, 8-4). Game time for the men’s game is 7:30 p.m.
NIACC is in seventh place in the league with its 5-7 mark. The Trojans wrap up the regular season Saturday at Clinton.
Ellsworth is in second place in the league. The Panthers play at league-leading Iowa Lakes (21-6, 10-3) in their final regular-season game on Saturday.
The men’s game will feature the top three scorers in the league in Ellsworth’s Malcolm Canada (20.3) and NIACC’s David Humphries (20.3) and Chris Davis (18.2).
