Highland opened up the NJCAA Division II National tournament in impressive fashion dispatching the #11 seeded Chesapeake College of Maryland 69-56 in East Peoria, Illinois.

It was a back and forth affair in the first half with each team hitting shots going into halftime particularly even in all categories with Chesapeake up 32-31. Coming out of the half the Scotties kept the aggressiveness going and pushed ahead and never looked back from that point as they muscled out to a double figure lead which ballooned out to a 15 point lead a few times in the second half.

Highland utilized a multitude of factors as they have all season to gain their 28th win of the season as they improved to 28-5 on the year with the win. Scotties forced the Skipjacks of Chesapeake into 24 turnovers on the night, while out hustling Chesapeake on the boards all night to the tune of a +20 rebound margin (58-38).

Eight Scotties scored on the night all with three points or more on the night as Highland was lead by sophomore, TaMiya Green who posted another double-double this season recording 19 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore, Royce Shields and freshman, Ryann Bowser joined Green in double figures on the night with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Bowser added eight rebounds, four assists and three steals for an impressive stat line, despite struggling from the field shooting, as half her points came from the charity strip.

With the in the Scotties move on to the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Division II National tournament, setting up a matchup tomorrow (Wednesday, March 20th) with the #3 seed, Illinois Central College who is 30-3 and won their first round game 63-43 over St. Louis behind two players in double figures. The #6 seed Scotties will take on the host school, Illinois Central at 6:00pm. The games will be streamed online via IHigh.com (click here for a link) and for more information on the tournament and a bracket visit the host school website Illinois Central College (click here).