The Illinois Central College women's basketball team (30-3) is the #2 seed at next week's NJCAA DII National Tournament, as announced on the NJCAA Network on Tuesday afternoon. The Cougars will play on Tuesday, March 17th at 7:00 pm CST against the winner of Monday's game between (#15) Chattahoochee Valley (AL) and (#18) National Park (AK).
All tourney games will be held at the Tarleton Complex Championship Court on the campus of Catawba Valley CC, about an hour from Charlotte.
The Cougars won the Region 24 tourney championship to earn their automatic bid and watched the Selection Show as a team to learn their seed which is based on overall record, strength of schedule, and performance against ranked teams, among other things. ICC has played 11 games against teams in the Top 14, with an overall record of 9-2 in those contests.
"We're excited to have gotten the #2 seed as it's a reward for our competitive schedule and how we fared against those teams," coach
Karrie Redeker said. "However, our kids know that every team's record is now 0-0 and the purpose of seeding is simply to determine who and when you play and what color uniform you'll wear. We know that the important thing is to go out and compete, play how we're capable of playing, and play with immense joy."
If the Cougars win their opening game they'll play on Thursday, March 19th at 3:00 pm (CST) in the Elite Eight. And while seeds #5-20 get a consolation game if they lose, the top 4 seeds who earned a first round bye (ICC, Johnson County, Harcum, & Pima) will be out of the tourney with a first-round loss, which has changed from previous years.
The tournament has a total of 20 teams with several teams the Cougars played during the season including Harcum, Pima, Kirkwood, Lansing, Lincoln Land, Parkland, and Mid Michigan.
The Cougars will leave early on Saturday morning to make the 12-hour bus trip to Hickory and then have practice and attend the pre-championship banquet on Sunday evening. They'll practice again on Monday and watch the Chattahoochee Valley/National Park game before practicing again on Tuesday to get ready for their first round game.
For updates on the team's ventures in Hickory, be sure to check the ICC Athletics' website or follow the Women's Basketball team's social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly known as Twitter).
HOW TO WATCH
All games will be live-streamed on the NJCAA Network for purchase (see below for link) with a one-day pass costing $12 and an all-tournament pass for $35. Play-by-play announcer Alex Staab will be making the trip with the team and will do audio broadcasts of all the ICC games for free through the Mixlr platform.
HOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS
A daily session pass is $20 (kids 7 and under are free) and an all-tournament pass is $100. Tickets can be purchased at
https://www.ticketsignup.io/TicketEvent/NJCAABasketballTournament
FULL TOURNAMENT BRACKET
https://njcaachampionship.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/div2/2025-26/national_championship/2026_DII_Women-s_Basketball_Bracket_-_With_Teams.pdf
NATIONAL TOURNAMENT WEBSITE
https://njcaachampionship.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/div2/index
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
2026 NJCAA Sweet Sixteen
Tuesday, March 17th - 7:00 PM CST
#2 Illinois Central Cougars (30-3) vs. the winner of (#15) Chattahoochee Valley/(#18) National Park
Tarleton Complex Championship Court at Catawba Valley CC in Hickory, NC
Watch Live ($):
https://www.njcaa.org/network/landing/index
Listen Live (Free) (Mixlr):
https://icc-womens-basketball.mixlr.com/
NATIONAL TOURNAMENT SEED LIST
#1 Johnson County (Kansas)
#2 Illinois Central
#3 Harcum (Pennsylvania)
#4 Pima (Arizona)
#5 Schoolcraft (Michigan)
#6 Kirkwood (Iowa)
#7 Lansing (Michigan)
#8 North Iowa Area (Iowa)
#9 Lincoln Land (Illinois)
#10 Parkland (Illinois)
#11 CCBC Essex (Maryland)
#12 Union County (New Jersey)
#13 Des Moines Area (Iowa)
#14 Mid Michigan (Michigan)
#15 Chattahoochee Valley (Alabama)
#16 Moraine Valley (Illinois)
#17 Cleveland (Ohio)
#18 National Park (Arkansas)
#19 Madison (Wisconsin)
#20 Monroe (New York)
