No. 1 NIACC rolls past LPTC, 120-41
WINNEBAGO, Neb. - Autam Mendez scored a career-high 48 points with 17 rebounds to lift No. 1 NIACC to a 120-41 victory over Little Priest Tribal College in ICCAC women's basketball action Wednesday night.
NIACC clinched its second straight ICCAC regular season title as it improved to 15-0 in the ICCAC with one game to play. No. 4 Kirkwood, which topped Southeastern 67-46 on Wednesday, is in second place in the league with a 13-2 mark.
NIACC (28-1 overall) also received 16 points from freshman Sydney Wetlaufer, 14 points from freshman Abby Leach and 10 points from freshman Sierra Morrow.
Morrow also grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked eight shots.
Mendez' 48 points is the second most in NIACC women's basketball history. The school's single-game record is 51 by Trudy Peterson against Kennedy King College in the 2015-16 season.
The 11 3-point goals by Mendez is tied for fourth on the school's all-time single-game list.
Mendez has 987 career points, which ranks fifth on the school's career scoring list. She is 13 points shy of becoming the fouth women's player in school history with 1,000 career points.
The last Lady Trojan to reach the 1000-point plateau was Chelsey Jacox, who played from 2012-14. Jacox is the school's career leader with 1,182 career points.
NIACC, which has won 16 straight games, connected on 23 3-point goals, which is tied for third on the school's team single-game 3-point list. Besides Mendez' 11 3-point goals, Wetlaufer and Leach both made four 3-points goals, Shinanna Secody made two and Kelcie Hale and Sanaa Smith each made one 3-pointer.
NIACC wraps up the regular season at home against Southwestern on sophomore day. Game time is slated for 1 p.m. in the NIACC gym.
