Women's Basketball

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Women's Basketball: March 5

NCC Gets Top Three Seeds in NCAA Tournament - NCC teams received the top three seeds to the North Central Region of the NCAA Division II Basketball Championships it was announced Sunday by the NCAA. North Dakota will host the tournament.

North Dakota is the #1 seed, Augustana is the #2 seed and SouthDakota is the #3 seed. The NCC teams are joined by #4 Regis, #5 Metro State and #7 Nebraska-Kearney from Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and #6 Concordia-St. Paul and #8 Minnesota State Moorhead from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

Regional winners will advance to the Elite Eight March 21, 22 and 24 in Kearney, Nebraska. The North Central region champ will play the South Region champ in the national quarterfinal game.

North Dakota Wins NCC Postseason Tourney - North Dakota continued with its postseason mastery as the Sioux took home their seventh consecutive NCC Postseason Tournament title Sunday. Here is a recap of the game:

There was no stopping North Dakota at Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Fighting Sioux played a nearly flawless game en route to a 72-49 victory over South Dakota in the NCC Postseason Championship. It's their seventh straight NCC tournament championship.

South Dakota, which spent much of the last few day on the road because of the weather, looked a little road weary. The biggest indicator was in the paint, where South Dakota had problems controlling UND. The Sioux outscored the Coyotes 22-10 in the paint and outrebounded them 52-34. UND's post players combined for 39 points.

UND's defense was also on top of its game. The Sioux held South Dakota to a 7-of-32 (21.9 percent) in the second half. South Dakota's 49 points matches the mark for the fewest points against the Sioux this season.

After a close first 12 minutes, the Sioux pulled away at the end of the first half, much like they did the previous night against Minnesota Duluth.

UND held onto a 18-17 point lead at the 8:52, after USD's Ashley Bjorkman drilled a three-pointer. Kierah Kimbrough answered with a lay-up in the paint. Then Carissa Jahner had a steal and Kimbrough hit a jumper after grabbing an offensive rebound. On UND's next possession, Kayla Bagaason scored three of her nine points and the Sioux led by 25-17 with 7:27 remaining. It was all UND from there.

Kimbrough, who was one rebound shy of a double double with 20 points and nine rebounds, was named the tournament's most valuable player. Ashley Langen ended with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

South Dakota was led by Bjorkman's 15 points. Shannon Daly contributed 12 points.