MASON CITY - To no one's surprise, the fourth-ranked Kirkwood Eagles  and second-ranked NIACC Trojans will battle for the regional title in  women's basketball Sunday.

To everyone's chagrin, only one of these premier teams will qualify  for the national tournament and the other one will be done for the year.

Only the regional champion reaches the national tournament. There are  no at-large bids in NJCAA Division II basketball, so one of the best  teams in the country will not make it.

Kirkwood reached the regional finals by topping DMACC, 68-60, in the  semifinals Saturday in Mason City. NIACC advanced by stomping Iowa  Central, 88-49, in the other semifinal.

Kirkwood (27-6) and NIACC (26-5) will tangle Sunday at 1 p.m. on  NIACC's home floor in Mason City. The two teams tied for the  conference title and swapped six-point victories on their home courts,  but NIACC won the tiebreaker and was awarded the home-court advantage  in the regional.

Mackenzie Jenkins led the Eagles Saturday with 18 points, seven  rebounds, two assists and two steals. Paige Bradford contributed 10  points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Haley Mullinnix had 10 points and five rebounds. Ju Gaston collected  nine points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Leah  Robinson had eight points and nine rebounds.

DMACC finished the season at 16-15.

KIRKWOOD (68): Bradford 5 0-0 10, Jenkins 8 1-1 18, Gaston 1 7-8 9,  Hurst 1 3-4 5, Mullinnix 3 2-2 10, Lipsey 0 0-0 0, Kennedy 1 0-0 2,  Myers 0 0-0 0, Tomaszewski 2 0-0 4, Robinson 2 3-4 8, Mensen 1 0-0 2.  Totals 24 16-19 68.

Halftime - Kirkwood 35, DMACC 31. 3-point goals - Kirkwood 4  (Mullinnix 2, Jenkins 1, Robinson 1).