Top Seeds Advance to the Finals; CMCC and Johnson & Wales-NC to Battle for Women's DII Crown

Uniontown, PA - The #1 and #2 seeds will meet in this year’s Division II National Championship game with Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte squaring off against Central Maine Community College.

After narrowly missing the National Tournament last year, the Johnson & Wales Lady Wildcats entered this year’s field as the #2 seed and have cruised into the National Championship game, beating #6 Villa Maria on Friday night. The Lady Wildcats used 26 Villa Maria turnovers to score 35 points. They were led by guard Chase Muhammad and forward Ineesha Hankerson, who together combined for 37 of the 65 points Johnson & Wales-Charlotte scored. Anchoring the Lady Vikings from Villa Maria was USCAA Women’s Division II Player of the Year Shaquana Owens who scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

In the nightcap, Central Maine Community College secured it’s second straight trip to the National Championship game with a 71-58 win over Penn State Brandywine. The Mustangs, who improved to 29-1, won this game early. In the first quarter the Mustangs outscored Brandywine 20-9. Central Maine was able to keep a sizeable advantage from that point forward. They received 29 points from the bench and forced 19 Brandywine turnovers in the game. Central Maine had five players score in double digits. Guard Kristina Blais added 7 assists and 5 rebounds in 33 minutes of action. For Brandywine, Brandi James had a team-high 17 points while Nikki Velez added 8 points.

Central Maine and Johnson & Wales-Charlotte play at 3:15 p.m. Saturday, March 3, 2018 at Penn State Fayette. Watch the championship game on basketball.theuscaa.com by clicking watch live.

-USCAA