BISMARCK, N.D. - In just his first season at the helm of the program, Head Coach Mitch Rolls and Iowa Western Women's Basketball punched their ticket to the 2024 NJCAA National Tournament with a 93-59 victory over United Tribes Technical College (13-17) in the North Central District B Championship.

The Reivers (31-2) trailed 3-2 in the first 30 seconds of the game but redshirt freshman guard McKenna Minter knocked down a pair of free throws and IW never looked back.  Minter and freshman guard Blessing Teamer dominated from the field combining for 32 first-half points while the team held the Thunderbirds to just 33 in the first 20 minutes of play.

In the second half, sophomore guard Noel Warrior knocked down a pair of 3-point field goals with Minter and Teamer continuing to dominate inside the paint with Teamer recording her 3rd double-double of the season, ending with 14 points and 10 rebounds. 

Defensively, the Reivers held UTTC's leading scorer Myona Dauphinais, who had just crossed the 1000-point mark for her career in their previous game, to just six points, all in the first half.

Sophomore forward Caleigh-Rose West added 11 rebounds and four points; Minter ended her day with 33 points but fell three rebounds shy of her 15th double-double this season with seven.

With the victory, Iowa Western ties the school record for wins in a season with 31, set in 2014-15.  It is also just the 3rd time in program history that the team has earned 30 or more victories in a year (2001-02).

The Reivers will now head to the NJCAA National Tournament held on the campus of Missouri Southern University in Joplin, MO from March 18th to the 23rd.  This is the first national tournament appearance since the 2020-21 season and just the 4th appearance in the last 20 years for Iowa Western.

Follow the Reivers on social media @Reiverwbb for tournament schedule updates.

More information on the national tournament can be found here.