Bobcats earn top seed in national tournament

The Jones College Bobcats are all smiles Sunday afternoon after finding out they are the No. 1 seed in the NJCAA Division I National Basketball Tournament. The 20-0 Bobcats will play their first game in the tournament on April 20 in Lubbock, Texas.

Photo/Shawn Wansley, Jones College Sports Information
The Jones College Bobcats are all smiles Sunday afternoon after finding out they are the No. 1 seed in the NJCAA Division I National Basketball Tournament. The 20-0 Bobcats will play their first game in the tournament on April 20 in Lubbock, Texas. Photo/Shawn Wansley, Jones College Sports Information

By Shawn Wansley

Jones College Sports Information

ELLISVILLE – The top-ranked Jones College Bobcats continue to make history.

 

For the first time in program history, Jones is the top seed in the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship. The tournament bracket was announced Sunday afternoon on NJCAA.org.

 

The national tournament will take place April 19-24at the Rip Griffin Center on the campus of Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas.

 

By earning the top seed, Jones draws a bye and will not play until 2 p.m. on April 20 vs. the winner of 16th-seeded Western Nebraska and No. 17 seed Iowa Western.

 

Head coach Missy Bilderback's teams completed the program's first-ever unbeaten regular season and followed that up with four impressive wins in the Region 23 Tournament. The Bobcats are currently 20-0 after crushing Coahoma 80-46 in the regional championship game on April 9 at Mississippi College.

 

This is the fifth straight year Jones has qualified for the national tournament. Last year's event was canceled because of COVID-19.

 

Jones owns two wins over No. 7 seed Shelton State (Alabama) and a victory over No. 6 seed South Georgia Tech.

 

All games in the national tournament will air on NJCAA.org.