The Bryant & Stratton College – WI women's basketball team will return to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament after defeating Black Hawk College, 65-59, Saturday in the Region IV championship at Moraine Valley College.

This was the third-straight regional final for the Lady Bobcats and the second time BSC will play in the national tournament, which starts March 17 at host St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron, MI.

It was an uncharacteristic game for the Lady Bobcats as they had arguably its worst first half of the season and did not shoot well from outside. Black Hawk led 13-12 after the first quarter and had its biggest lead, 26-17, with three minutes to play in the first half. BSC started to come alive with a few key steals capped off by a Marleah Drake layup with a few seconds left but the Bobcats trailed 27-24 at half.

The Lady Bobcats came out stronger in the second half and took its first lead of the game, 33-32, with 5 minutes left in the third quarter.

Tournament MVP La'Janique Perry-Ellis turned it up in the third quarter with several points in the paint to take a 44-39 lead.  

The Braves battled the entire game and never let the Lady Bobcats pull away in the fourth quarter. Drake had a big offensive board put back with 3:40 to play to put BSC up 56-48. With a minute to play, the Braves hit a 3-pointer to pull to 58-54. On the next play, sophomore Kiyanna Rodgers would get fouled and hit both free throws with 30 seconds left to give the Lady Bobcats some breathing room, 60-54.

Both teams would exchange free throws to close out the game, but Bryant & Stratton would hit enough to secure the win.

The Bobcats scored 38 points in the paint. The team shot a season-worst 1-for-18 from 3-point range. There were only 4 lead changes in the game.  

 "It was the worst first half we played all year," said Bobcats head coach Jeff Lorenz. "We came out in the second half and played our game. It wasn't pretty but it was enough to win."

Lorenz was named Region IV District L Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons.

Perry-Ellis led BSC with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Drake added 17 points, 7 boards and 3 steals and made the all-tournament team. 

Rodgers was also named to the all-tournament team. She finished with 10 points, 4 assists and was 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.

Freshman Faith Watkins had a great game keeping the Braves out of the paint. Watkins finished with 4 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks.  

The tournament seeding will take place Tuesday at 12pm and will be streamed live on the NJCAA website. The Bobcats finished the regular season as the 10^th-ranked team in Division II. Based on seedings and record, Bryant & Stratton is projected to earn a fourth, fifth or sixth seed.