ROCHESTER, Minn. – The No. 11 seed Monroe College – Bronx women's basketball team fell short to the sixth-seeded and nationally ranked No. 7 Dallas College Cedar Valley, by a score of 79-62, in the first round of the NJCAA Division III Women's Basketball National Tournament on Wednesday evening. The contest took place at the Rochester Regional Sports Center. The Express' (16-17) season is not over yet as they will battle 10^th-seeded and nationally ranked No. 12 Rowan College of South Jersey Gloucester County in the consolation bracket of the National Tournament on Thursday at 12:00 p.m. central time in the same location.
 
Leading the way for the Express in the NJCAA Tournament first-round contest was freshman guard Daysiah Smith who scored a game-best 27 points, forced six steals, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out a pair of assists. Rookie guard Tymere Moorer produced 14 points and six boards. Classmate Davian Myers snatched 10 caroms and added six points. Freshman guard Angeleny Cobos generated 11 points and four boards. 
 
The Express got off to a sluggish start by falling behind, 8-0, 4:51 into the contest. Monroe finally got on the board thanks to strong defense leading to offense as Smith forced a steal and then converted a fast-break layup to shrink Monroe's deficit to 8-2 with 4:35 left in the opening quarter. 
 
After the Suns (18-5) inflated their lead to 12-2, the Express answered with four straight points, capped off by another steal and layup combination from Smith to narrow the Blue and Gold's disadvantage to 12-6 with 2:10 left. Dallas College Cedar Valley finished the stanza on a 6-2 run to take an 18-8 benefit into the second quarter. 
 
Cobos got the Express off on the right foot in the second period by draining a triple to slice the Suns' lead to 18-11, less than two minutes in. However, Dallas Cedar Valley countered with six unanswered points to balloon its vantage to 24-11 with 5:15 left before the break. 
 
Monroe – Bronx snatched momentum by going on an 11-2 run, highlighted by a triple each from Cobos and Moorer and then capped off by a Smith layup, to pull Monroe to within four at 26-22 with 1:48 left in the opening half. After Dallas Cedar Valley hit a pair of free throws to go back up by six, Smith countered with yet another layup to cut the opposition's benefit to 28-24 with 1:17 left. The Suns finished the second quarter on a strong note as a 3-point basket by rookie guard Tyla Harper concluded four unanswered points in the final 35 seconds by Dallas Cedar Valley to send the higher seed into the break with a 32-24 advantage. 
 
The Express came storming out of the gate in the third quarter, as a triple and then a successful jumper by Cobos pulled Monroe to within three, at 32-29, less than a minute into the stanza. After the Suns went back up by five, Smith provided a layup while being fouled. She nailed the free throw to complete the conventional three-point play to shrink the Express' disadvantage to 34-32 with 7:53 left in the third period. Less than two minutes later, and the Express down by five, Smith executed another layup to narrow Dallas' lead to 38-35 with 6:18 remaining. However, a 7-1 run by DCCV put Monroe in a 45-36 hole with 4:17 to go. The Express fell behind by 12, but a triple by Moorer with 11 seconds left pulled her team to within single digits, at 46-37, which ended up being the score heading into the final quarter of regulation play. 
 
Unfortunately for the Express, the Suns broke the game open in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Blue and Gold, 23-15, during the final 10 minutes to secure the NJCAA Tournament first-round victory by a score of 79-62. The Suns will battle third-seeded and nationally ranked No. 4 Onondaga Community College in the NJCAA Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. central time at the Rochester Regional Sports Center.
 
For Dallas Cedar Valley during its victory over Monroe, freshman forward Precious Jackson-Sanders tallied a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard Deja Thomas also reached double figures in both points (11) and rebounds (10), while dishing out seven assists.
 
For updates regarding the Express women's basketball team's run in the NJCAA Division III National Tournament, check out MonroeExpress.com as well as our social media channels. 
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 31 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 seven 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/X (@MonroeExpress), Instagram (@MonroeExpress), and Threads (@MonroeExpress).