The Pima College women's basketball team is headed to the NJCAA Division II national tournament after routing host Mesa 76-59 on Saturday night.
No. 2-seeded Pima (25-7) led 34-24 at halftime and outscored top-seeded Mesa 25-16 in the third quarter to take control of the game. It was the 11th time in 12 seasons the teams had met in the Region I finals, but the first time the road team had won in the title game.
“I don’t know if it has sunk in yet. I’m just really happy for the kids,” Pima coach Todd Holthaus said in a press release.
Marana High School grad Alyssa Perez scored eight of Pima's first nine points and finished with 17 for the game to go with seven rebounds.
“Coming into the game, I knew I had to be aggressive and I had to be smart with the ball,” Perez said in a press release. “I felt like I had it on my shoulders to set the tone and get my teammates involved. I couldn’t do it without my teammates.”
Pima will compete in the national tournament from March 17-21 in Port Huron, Michigan.
