UTTC Women's Basketball Clinches #1 Seed Heading Into Regional Tournament

The United Tribes women's basketball team (16-13, 9-5 Mon-Dak) made a historic run, pulling themselves into a second place finish in the Junior College Mon-Dak Athletic Conference, sharing honors with Williston State College (23-7, 9-5 Mon-Dak). It would mark the highest finish by any UTTC women's basketball team in school history. Bismarck State (21-7, 11-3 Mon-Dak) and North Dakota State College of Science (22-7, 11-3 Mon-Dak) remain on top, sharing first place honors. UTTC Thunderbirds would finish the season, defeating all three teams seated first, second, third in the conference ranks.

With UTTC finishing higher than Dakota College at Bottineau (14-14, 6-8 Mon-Dak), the Thunderbirds will receive the #1 seed, heading into this weekend's NJCAA Region XIII Tournament. The Ladyjacks will face off with Gogebic College, out of Ironwood, MI, with the winner advancing to Sunday's Region Championship game. 

THIS WEEK         
With the #1 seed, the Thunderbirds will advance to the NJCAA Region XIII Championship game on Sunday March 2. Game time is set for 2:00pm in the James Henry Gymnasium on the United Tribes Technical College campus. Winner will advance to the North Central A District Championship game.
 
GAME COVERAGE
Watch: Both games, Region XIII semi-final and championship game, will be streamed on the United Tribes' YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@UnitedTribesTechnicalCollege/streams 

LAST TIME OUT
Natalie DeCoteau netted a career-high 34 points as UTTC defeated Lake Region State College, 73-50. DeCoteau reached the 20-point plateau for the ninth time this season with a career-best 34 points on 13-of-26 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. She also hauled in a game-high and season-best nine rebounds, six assists, and one steal. Sophomore, Alionna Lawrence, continued her inside dominance reaching double digits in scoring with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Ronessa Sazue added 13 points with 10 rebounds.
 
THE SERIES VS. DAKOTA COLLEGE AT BOTTINEAU
This will be the 3rd meeting between UTTC and Dakota College at Bottineau. The Thunderbirds have won each of the last two meetings, leading the series, 2-0. In their most recent meeting earlier this season, UTTC topped the Ladyjacks, 73-70, in overtime. Three thunderbirds reached double digits in scoring with Ronessa Sazue recording a team-high 15 points with 14 rebounds. Alionna Lawrence contributed 14 points, 16 rebounds, and three assists, while Ezura Rainbow had a big game off the bench, with 10 points and seven rebounds.

SECOND HALF OF MON-DAK CONFERENCE PLAY
The Thunderbirds have assembled a 6-1 mark in Mon-Dak conference play since February 1, with the one loss coming from North Dakota State College of Science, on Februay 23.

DECOTEAU IN LEAGUE PLAY
Natalie DeCoteau, transfer from Lake Region State College, is averaging a team-best 16.7 points per game in Mon-Dak conference play, which ranks 4th in the league. She has recorded double digits in scoring in 20-of-28 games in conference play, including nine 20-point performances. DeCoteau has also posted six double-doubles in Mon-Dak conference play. She also ranks 3rd in the conference for assists per game, averaging 4.9. 

LIGHTS OUT FOR LAWRENCE
Alionna Lawrence is in her second season with the Thunderbirds and brings the most experience to the roster. Lawrence is a returning all-conference player, guiding the 2023-24 UTTC women's basketball program to back-to-back Region XIII championships. Lawrence is known for her sharp-shooting percentages from deep. She ranks 3rd in the league for 3-PT percentage. She is also averaging 16.5 ppg and 8.2 rpg.

MON-DAK CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ronessa Sazue was named Mon-Dak Conference player of the week in December 2024. The freshman forward from Fort Thompson, SD is averaging nearly a double-double and league play with 14.2 ppg and 9.8 rpg. She was awarded Most Valuable Player during the Thunderhawk Classic, earlier this season. Sophomore, Natalie DeCoteau, also collected player of the week honors, earlier this month, after an impressive win over Bismarck State College. The St. John, ND native scored 29 points, collected 10 rebounds, and handed out seven assists in the victory over the Mystics. DeCoteau is averaging 16.7 ppg and 4.9 apg. Alionna Lawrence was the third Thunderbird, this season, to collect player of the week honors , in late February. The Four Winds HS product is averaging 16.5 ppg and 8.2 rpg.