East Peoria, Ill. - The Illinois Central College women's basketball team's Cougar Holiday Tournament has a lot of history - it's in its 41st season, in fact. It has drawn very high-quality fields of teams over the years, especially when the college hosted the NJCAA National Tournament from 2007-2013 in Ramsey Gym. With that being said, the 2022 field has the potential to be one of the best in tournament history with four teams ranked in the Top 10 in the most recent NJCAA Division II poll and a total of six teams either ranked or receiving votes. The tourney is headlined by five NJCAA Division-II Top 20 teams: #1 Kirkwood, #3 CCBC Essex, #6 Lake Land, #10 Illinois Central, #13 Bryant & Stratton, along with (RV) Black Hawk, Palm Beach State, and South Suburban. Read below to find out everything fans need to know going into this year's action; teams are listed with their NJCAA DII ranking (if applicable), team name, record, and location.
(RV) BLACK HAWK BRAVES | (6-7) | MOLINE, ILLINOIS
The Black Hawk Braves have had a challenging schedule to this point of the season, and they look to expand upon that by competing in this year's Cougar Holiday Tournament.
The Braves have taken on two Top 20 opponents in their last three games, with the most recent contest being a 14-point home loss to fellow tournament participant Kirkwood on Dec. 20 and a four-point win over another tournament participant in Bryant & Stratton.
Black Hawk has two players averaging north of 10 points per game, being led by Khloe Damm (12.6 ppg) and Kayla Jones (12.0 ppg). Damm is averaging a double-double thus far, bringing in 11.3 rebounds per game for Logan Frye's squad, who have cracked the national poll for the first time in history.
2021 Holiday Tournament Finish: W in Consolation Championship vs. McHenry County
2022 Holiday Tournament Pairing: vs. #6 Lake Land | Wednesday, 12/28 | 2:00 PM
#13 BRYANT & STRATTON BOBCATS | (9-4) | MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN
The Bryant & Stratton Bobcats are coming off a National Tourney Final Four run in 2021-2022 and are looking to make a splash in East Peoria next week. 2022-2023 is a new era for the program, with the Bobcats welcoming first-year head coach Brandon Siska to the sidelines.
The Bobcats have played two teams in this year's tournament field, dropping road games to #1 Kirkwood and (RV) Black Hawk.
Coach Siska's team brings a spreading of wealth atop the scoring charts, with nearly five players averaging in double figures: Mondrea Williams (16.4 ppg), Teya Maas (15.1 ppg), Kylie Lemberger (11.9 ppg), Carley Burchardt (10.3 ppg), and Myisha Malone (9.7 ppg). Maas is averaging a double-double through the Bobcat's 13 games thus far, crashing the boards at a 10.6 per game clip. Their opening game against CCBC Essex is a rematch of the National Tourney 3rd place game from this past March.
2021 Holiday Tournament Finish: L in 3rd Place Game vs. D1 Rend Lake
2022 Holiday Tournament Pairing: vs. #3 CCBC Essex | Wednesday, 12/28 | 4:00 PM
#3 CCBC ESSEX KNIGHTS | (11-0) | BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
The third game of the proceedings on Wednesday will be a hotly contested one, as the #3 CCBC Essex Knights battle the aforementioned #13 Bryant & Stratton Bobcats in a rematch from half of the 2021-2022 Final Four.
The Knights bring a fast-paced, sharp-shooting brand of basketball to East Peoria, having averaged over 100 points per game in '21-22. The new season hasn't been too different, with Coach Mike Seney's group still averaging 96 points per game.
Essex features the highest-scoring player entering the tournament in Faith Blackstone, the former Syracuse and NC A&T player, who averages 20.3 points per game, just 0.3 points from being top 10 in the country. Anasia Staton (12.6 ppg) and Ashley Dickey (10.3 ppg) also average in double figures.
Last Holiday Tournament Finish: First ICC Holiday Tournament Appearance
2022 Holiday Tournament Pairing: vs. #13 Bryant & Stratton | Wednesday, 12/28 | 4:00 PM *2022 Final Four Rematch*
#10 ICC COUGARS | (7-4) | EAST PEORIA, ILLINOIS
The tournament hosts certainly can pride themselves on strength of schedule thus far, especially in preparation for Region 24 play, but also this highly-competitive tournament. Of the Cougars' 11 games, seven have been against DI or ranked DI & DII teams.
Hall-of-fame coach Karrie Redeker brings a team that has already played three teams in the tourney field: a loss at Kirkwood, a win over Black Hawk, and a win at Palm Beach State.
Individually, the Cougars are paced by Cierra McNamee, a third-year player who was named an NJCAA Top 40 All-Star for the 2021-2022 season. This year, McNamee averages 16.3 points per game. McNamee (7.8 rpg, 1.5 bpg) and Halie Gilbert (8.5 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.3 bpg) have held things down inside while Peyton Dearing is the team's top three-point shooter, coming in at a 38.5% clip and having made 18 treys on the year.
2021 Holiday Tournament Finish: def. Kirkwood in the Championship Game
2022 Holiday Tournament Pairing: vs. South Suburban | Wednesday, 12/28 | 6:00 PM
#1 KIRKWOOD EAGLES | (11-0) | CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
The Kirkwood Eagles are one of two teams entering the tournament with unblemished records. Hall-of-fame coach Kim Muhl is looking to expand upon the program's National Championship that they won this past season, the eighth such finish in program history.
Three of the Eagles' 11 wins in 22-23 have been against tournament teams: #10 ICC, #13 Bryant & Stratton, and (RV) Black Hawk. Only twice have the Eagles been held under 70 points in a game, with those two occurrences coming in a 64-49 win over State Fair and a 58-44 win over Black Hawk.
Tasia Jordan leads the team with 15.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and is shooting just over 51% from the field. Jada Devine is the other double-figure scorer for Kirkwood, averaging 12.0 per game, adding 1.3 blocks per game.
2021 Holiday Tournament Finish: L in Championship Game vs. Illinois Central
2022 Holiday Tournament Pairing: vs. Palm Beach State | Wednesday, 12/28 | 12:00 PM
#6 LAKE LAND LAKERS | (9-1) | MATTOON, ILLINOIS
It's an interesting dynamic for hall-of-fame coach Dave Johnson and the Lake Land Lakers---they're very familiar with Ramsey Gym as an in-region and now in-conference opponent of ICC's. And, after filling in for one game in last year's tournament, they now get the experience as a full tournament participant.
After suffering their first loss of the season at the start of the month at #2 Morton College, the Lakers have run the table, entering the tournament on a three-game win streak.
Lake Land has three players in double figures, with Lexi Niebrugge (12.6 ppg), Tayler Barry (11.1 ppg), and Katelyn Littleton (10.8 ppg) leading the way. Olivia Niemerg leads the Lakers with 8.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game, a mark that is fourth in the country.
2021 Holiday Tournament Finish: def. Palm Beach State (only played one game as a fill-in)
2022 Tournament Pairing: vs. (RV) Black Hawk | Wednesday, 12/28 | 2:00 PM
PALM BEACH STATE PANTHERS | (7-5) | LAKE WORTH, FLORIDA
Former Bradley University assistant coach Maureen Smith has her Panther squad playing quality basketball at the moment. Last year, Palm Beach State finished the season with four wins, so this year's team has already surpassed that mark. This is their second-ever tournament appearance, having traveled from sunny Florida to brave the cold Midwest weather.
The Panthers, despite being the furthest-traveling team from Ramsey Gym, certainly have a familiar-sounding schedule. Palm Beach State has taken on #10 Illinois Central and #2 Morton College within their 12-game slate.
Among key returners for the Panthers is perhaps a familiar name to those that were at last year's tournament: Andrea Torres. The guard averaged an impressive 25 points over Palm Beach State's three games last December. This year she still leads the team, averaging north of 14 points per game. Keep an eye on the nation's leading shot blocker in Keri Cooper, who swats 4.9 shots per game.
2021 Holiday Tournament Finish: L in 7th Place Game
2022 Tournament Pairing: vs. #1 Kirkwood | Wednesday, 12/28 | 12:00 PM
SOUTH SUBURBAN BULLDOGS | (10-4) | SOUTH HOLLAND, ILLINOIS
Coach Roslyn Turner brings in a South Suburban team that is just one of three tournament teams with 10 or more wins to their name already. The Bulldogs have played five true road games prior to the tournament, averaging 70.8 points per game away from South Holland.
Turner's team has two Top-20 teams on their schedule to this point, having dropped games against both #2 Morton College and #14 Parkland.
South Suburban has four players averaging above 10 points per game: Rachel Robinson (18.4), Samya Gardner (11.4), Johniqua Smith (10.4), and Teresa Leavy (10.4). The Bulldogs also have a spread-out roster of rebounders, with no one particular player holding a majority of the rebounding totals.
Last Tournament Finish: 2017 | def. McHenry County in the Consolation Championship
2022 Tournament Pairing: @ #10 ICC | Wednesday, 12/28 | 6:00 PM
All games will be broadcast live on the Cougars Athletics YouTube channel, which can be found HERE. The full tournament bracket can also be found HERE.
