BROOKLYN, NY – After a historic regular season, #1 Express women's basketball matched up with the #2 seed Hostos Community College Caimans for the second consecutive season in the Region 15 finals Sunday afternoon, and once again took home the gold after a 72-56 victory inside Kingsborough Community College Gymnasium. This is the Express' second Region 15 Championship victory with head coach Jeremy Thompson's at the helm.

After the victory, Thompson shared this about his team's inspiring victory:

"We went into this game knowing the task at hand, secure a trip to the National Tournament in Minnesota and win our second straight Region Championship." 

When asked about his team's historic season he shared:

"This team has relentless work ethic and they wanted to make sure that they left their stamp on this program. And they went out there and won back to back championships. This team has everything you could ask for, now it's time to go to Minnesota and face the next opponent we're given and chase a National Championship."

Sierra Jones led the Express with 15 points, four assists and four rebounds. Nyeira Spady dropped in 11 points, two rebounds, one block and one steal. Aleah James added 10 points, seven assists and three rebounds. Janay Legagneur and Alyssa Grant both pitched in eight points.

In addition to the team's success in the playoffs, Spady was named Tournament MVP and Jones was tabbed to the All-Tournament team. 

In a battle where both teams were no strangers to each other, this was a matchup that was foreseen since the beginning of the season. As stated before, these two forces dueled each other in the 2022 Region 15 Championship tournament, that saw the Express claim victory with a 45-39 final score. In their first meeting in the regular season, the Express stormed out defeating Hostos by 45 points inside the Monroe Athletic Complex while they held the top spot in the NJCAA DIII national rankings. In their second matchup, where the Express were #8 and the Caimans were ninth in the nation, Monroe once again beat Hostos by 13 points on the road inside The Swamp. In a decisive championship game, Monroe captured the crown over Hostos, defeating the Caimans 6-0 over the last two seasons and going 22-0 in conference play. 
 
The Express conclude their historic season with a 22-7 record, going 14-0 in Region 15 play. Their run is not over though, because with this victory, the Express claim the Northeast district and will advance to the NJCAA Division III National Championship tournament in Rochester, MN for the second straight season. After entering the tournament last year with the #5 seed, the Express await this year's selection show to determine their seed and opponent. Monroe looks to build on last year, and make a deep run in to the tournament. 

The NJCAA Division III National Tournament will take place from March 15th-18th in Rochester, MN and seeding for the national tournament will be announced on Wednesday, March 8th at 3 PM. Tune into the live show at the link here. Stay tuned at MonroeExpress.com for opponent information.

ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 35 teams competing across nine sports. There are 21 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, the Monroe College marching band, and the newly added esports and men's volleyball programs, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 14 teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
 
For more information about the Monroe Express, please visit us at www.MonroeExpress.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe Express), Twitter (@MonroeExpress) and Instagram (@MonroeExpress).