HICKORY, N.C. — The Catawba Valley Community College women's basketball team has clinched its first-ever national tournament appearance.

After a strong finish to its regular season and a solid conference tournament run, the Red Hawks (16-12) will compete at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Tournament, which takes place on March 21-25 at the SC4 Fieldhouse in Port Huron, Mich.

Catawba Valley won six of its final seven games, including a 72-69 victory against 16th-ranked Richard Bland in its regular season finale on March 3.

The Red Hawks also upset top seed Bryant & Stratton (Va.) 64-54 during the semifinals of the Region 10/South Atlantic District tournament hosted by Wake Tech this past week.

Despite falling to Richard Bland in the tournament finals, Catawba Valley earns the South Atlantic B District championship and one of two berths for the District in the national tournament.

CVCC is led this season by sophomores Keziah Soogrim (18.6 PPG, 7.8 RPG) and Nijah Cunningham (12.7 PPG, 10.8 RPG), who were both named to the Region 10/South Atlantic District all-tournament team.

The Red Hawks await their tournament seeding, which will be announced during the NJCAA Division II Women's Basketball Selection Show on Tuesday at 3 p.m. It will be broadcast on the NJCAA Network.