Cedar Valley to Play for NJCAA Central District Championship Friday

Dallas College Cedar Valley No. 7-ranked women's basketball team will play Joliet Junior College for the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Central District championship 5 p.m. Friday in Joliet, Illinois.

Cedar Valley (16-5) will be meeting Joliet (14-15) for the first time in program history. It is the Suns' third straight year playing for a district title and the fourth overall in the six-year history of the program. Head coach Latasha Keith has guided the team for the past five years.

Cedar Valley lost to Dallas College Mountain View, 67-57, in last year's South Central District Championship. The Suns fell to Prince George's (Md.) Community College, 76-56, in the 2021-22 Southeast District title game. In 2019-20, Cedar Valley beat Prince George's, 63-62, in the Southeast District championship to advance to the NJCAA Division III National Tournament in Rockford, Illinois.

The Suns are seeking their second trip to the national tournament. They went 1-1 at the 2019-20 NJCAA Tournament, beating top-seed and unbeaten Massasoit (Mass.) Community College, 73-68, in the quarterfinals. The Suns lost to Northland (Minn.) Community & Technical College, 50-49, in the semifinals.

Cedar Valley enters Friday's district title game on a nine-game winning streak. A victory would match the program record for most consecutive wins, set in the first year of the program to end the season. The Suns broke the school record for wins in a season in Saturday's 71-58 victory at Jacksonville College to cap the regular season.

Sophomore guards Carmela Hayden (14.9 points per game), Mia Thomas (13.8) and Deja Thomas (11.9) lead the Suns in scoring. Freshman forward Precious Jackson-Sanders is fourth at 11.4 points per game. Jackson-Sanders leads the team in rebounds per game (9.3), and sophomore forward Ciana Fudzie is second at 7.1, while scoring 5.6 points per contest. Sophomore forward Nekayla Williams is averaging 5.3 points and 6.4 boards.  

Deja Thomas leads Cedar Valley with six assists and 5.3 steals per game. Mia Thomas is second in steals (2.3). Jackson-Sanders is averaging just under one block per game.

Joliet is coming off a 78-39 loss to Triton Saturday. The Wolves won six in a row midway through the season. They ended the regular season dropping three of their last four.

Wolves guard Grace Harris leads Joliet in scoring (18.1 ppg), rebounding (7.4), assists (4.6) and steals (1.7). She's an 81.7 percent free throw shooter. Center Kiyah Robertson is averaging 14.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.3 steals and a team-best 1.6 blocks per game. Guard Ashanti Brown is averaging 12.1 points, five boards, 4.5 assists and 1.6 steals. Guard Maggie Grady is averaging 10.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals.

Cedar Valley is averaging 77.5 points per game. Joliet is scoring 70.5.

The winner advances to the NJCAA Division III Tournament March 13-16 in Rochester, Minnesota.