Malcolm X returns to top of Region IV after five year hiatus
JOLIET, ILL. - Five years since their last championship, the Malcolm X College women's basketball team is back on top after claiming the 2020 Region IV Division I Tournament title Monday night with a 70-60 defeat of Sauk Valley Community College at Joliet Junior College. The region championship is the tenth in program history and seventh since 2003, the most of any Region IV Division I teams.
The top-seeded Hawks were able to reach the championship round without playing a game, as they were granted a bye into the semifinals and then advanced past #4 Harry S. Truman College via forfeit. That set up a showdown with the #2 Skyhawks, who were playing in their seventh consecutive finals. Sauk Valley took an early 15-5 lead and held a seven-point edge after the first quarter. However, Malcolm X College dominated the second quarter 24-4 and owned a 13-point advantage at the half. A 19-5 Skyhawks run in the second half evened the score with 8:19 to play, but it was the Hawks who pulled away with 23 of the final 36 points to get the win.
Freshman guard Jessica Congress netted a game-high 21 points en route to being named Region IV Tournament Most Valuable Player, and was joined on the Region IV All-Tournament Team by Tyla Allen and Jada McCurdy. Head coach Kim McQuarter was named Region IV Coach of the Year for the sixth time.
Malcolm X College is 16-9 and advances to the NJCAA North Central District Championship, where it will play Region XIII winner North Dakota State College of Science (26-6) on Saturday, March 7 in Wahpeton, North Dakota. The winner of that game qualifies for the 2020 NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championships in Lubbock, Texas, from March 17-21, 2020.
2020 Region IV Division I All-Tournament Team
Jessica Congress - Malcolm X College
Destiny Richards - Kennedy-King College
Zoe Carr - Sauk Valley Community College
Noelle Jones - Sauk Valley Community College
Jada McCurdy - Malcolm X College
Tyla Allen - Malcolm X College
Tournament MVP
Jessica Congress - Malcolm X College
Coach of the Year
Kim McQuarter - Malcolm X College