East Peoria, Ill. - The Illinois Central College women's basketball team captured the Region 24 championship in barn-burner fashion as they defeated Lincoln Land 65-58 on Saturday afternoon in Ramsey Gym. The game was tied a total of ten times, including at the 2:12 mark of the fourth quarter but the Cougars closed out the game with strong defense and timely buckets to go on a 7-0 run and get the victory.

The win earned the Cougars an automatic bid to the NJCAA DII WBB National Tournament on March 16-21 in Hickory, NC, marking their 33^rd appearance at Nationals in program history. It was ICC's first Region 24 title since 2022, and will be their third trip to Nationals in the past five seasons (having earned an at-large bid in 2025, finishing 8th). 

"Our kids showed great resiliency," coach Karrie Redeker said. "The game was a see-saw affair and full of so many highs and lows but our kids trusted each other and found a way. Our defense was key and we stayed the course offensively with some big baskets. Playing at home was also amazing and the crowd gave us a huge lift all afternoon."

ICC held the Loggers to 33% field goal for the game while recording 11 blocks. Offensively they shot 48% from the field and were paced by Lily Luczkowiak (14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 blocks), Addy Engel (12 points, 6 rebounds), and Kam Heider (10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists). The Cougar bench provided 17 points (outscoring LLCC's who had 12) and each player who saw action hit the scoring column.

An Engel layup and Heider trey got ICC on the board early but LLCC took a 12-7 lead midway through the first. After the media timeout, ICC dug in on defense and got a three-pointer from Hannah West, an Emily Dana basket, and A'Meah Lester layup to take a 16-14 first quarter lead. 

The Cougars took their largest lead of the game in the second quarter as Luczkowiak, Engel, and Ellie VanMeenen combined for scores inside along with a West trey to go up 27-18 at the 5:42 mark. However, the Loggers went on a run to close the half and tie the score at 31-all. 

Larissa Taylor and Maziah Shelton's layups kept the Cougars even but then LLCC went on a run to grab their largest lead on the afternoon at 45-38. Luczkowiak's layup stopped the bleeding, and she added another layup along with Taylor free throws and a trey from Heider (assist Dana) to draw to within 49-47 heading into the final stanza. 

A long jumper from Taylor and Engel basket tied the score at 51-all and then scores by Shelton and Luczkowiak put ICC ahead 55-51. LLCC answered with a trey and both teams' defense held until VanMeenen nailed a huge trey in transition (assist Lester) for a 58-54 lead with 4:24 to play.

The Loggers tied the score at 58-all at the 2:12 mark, but Luczkowiak scored inside on nice feed from Heider for a 60-58 advantage. A huge block by Lester and strong defense by the Cougars held LLCC scoreless the remainder of the game, while an Engel layup (assist Shelton) with :45 seconds to play made the score 62-58. ICC finished the game sinking 3 of 4 free throws for the final margin.

STATS FOR THE COUGARS
Lily Luczkowiak | 14 pts, 4 blks, 4 reb
Addy Engel 12 pts, 6 reb
Kam Heider | 10pts, 7 reb, 3 ast
Larissa Taylor | 8 reb, 7 pts, 3 blks
Maziah Shelton | 7 pts, 6 reb
Hannah West | 6 pgs, 3 reb
Ellie VanMeenen | 5 pts
A'Meah Lester (2 pts, 2 asts, 2 stls)
Emily Dana (2 pts, 2 reb)
I BEAT THE DEAN: the team

ALL-REGION HONOREES:
Following the game, it was announced that Lily Luczkowiak, Addy Engel, Maziah Shelton, & Kam Heider were named to the 10-player team for their efforts during the season while the ICC coaching staff was named the Region 24 Coaching Staff of the Year (Karrie Redeker, Stan Prosser, Matt Long, Tenley Dowell, & Dennie Hieronymus).

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
A total of 20 teams will compete for a National Title in Hickory, NC; seeding will be announced on Tuesday, March 10 at 4:00 pm CST on the NJCAA Network at https://www.njcaa.org/network/live.
16 teams earn an automatic bid and 4 at-large bids are given based on the final NJCAA DII rankings, season record, and strength of schedule.

For a complete list of qualifiers (district tournaments will be completed on Sunday) go to:   https://njcaachampionship.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/div2/2025-26/region_district_championship/index