Kiley Sours-Miller scores 26 points as Women's Basketball downs Des Moines Area CC to reach Elite Eight

The Pima Community College women's basketball team (27-4) used a strong third quarter to pull away in its game against Des Moines Area Community College (26-9) to open the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.

• The No. 4 seeded Aztecs held off the No. 13 Bears 71-64 on Tuesday in the second-round matchup. It was Pima's 15^th straight win as they advance to play on Thursday in the National Quarterfinal round.
• The Aztecs fell behind in the early minutes trailing 9-4 but used a 10-4 run to close out the first quarter to take a 14-13 lead.
• Up 16-15, the Aztecs took their first double digit lead after an 11-2 run put the score at 27-17. The Bears countered with a 9-2 run of their own as the Aztecs led 29-26. Pima clinged to a 32-28 lead at halftime.
• Sophomore Kiley Sours-Miller (Dream City Christian) scored the first nine points of the third quarter as her last basket during that stretch put Pima up 41-32. The Bears hit a three-pointer to make it 47-39 but the Aztecs closed out the third quarter, scoring nine of the final 12 points to go up 56-42.
• The Aztecs took their biggest lead of the game at 15 points after freshman Reigne Waugh's basket made it 59-44 with 8:58 left in the game. Sours-Miller put Pima ahead again by that margin at 61-46 with 7:29 left.
• The Bears cut Pima's lead to single digits, but the Aztecs continued to counter to take the double digit advantage back down the stretch.
• Sours-Miller led the way with a game-high 26 points on 12-for-19 shooting along with nine rebounds and one block.
• Sophomore Melicia Nelson (Window Rock HS) fell short of a triple-double as she had 11 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals.
• "I just wanted to be that leader today. We came out with a little jitters, but talking with the team and staying with the game plan and putting confidence in them," Nelson said. "We were getting stops on defense; once we got stops and got rebounds, we were able to push the tempo on them, keep them on their heels and attack the lane."
• Waugh also scored in double figures as she posted 10 points to go with three rebounds. She was 1-for-1 in three-pointers and 3-for-3 from the free throw line.
• "It didn't disappoint," Waugh said about her first game in the NJCAA Tournament. "That team (Des Moines Area CC) was good and they're here for a reason. They definitely gave us the first punch, but we came back and responded well. We pushed the gas on them and that's where our conditioning came in play."
• Sophomore Lucy Land contributed with eight points and three rebounds off the bench as she went 3-for-5 from the field.
• Freshman Lucy Fisher (Mesquite HS) had five points and nine rebounds. Freshman Kahlia Gonzales (Mesquite HS) didn't score any points but had six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
• The Aztecs stopped Des Moines Area's five-game winning streak. Pima also out-rebounded the Bears 50-39 for the game and won the offensive rebounding battle 13-7.

The Aztecs will play No. 12 seed Union College of Union County (NJ) on Thursday in the Elite Eight. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. (EST); 11:00 a.m. (Tucson time).

DMACC   13   15   14   22   64
PCC          14   18   24   15   71