Sophomore center Erin Drynan picked a great day to have the best game of her life for Moraine Valley.

Drynan dominated Saturday's NJCAA Division II Region IV-L championship game, finishing with 34 points, 22 rebounds and eight blocked shots as the Cyclones punched their ticket to nationals with a 92-72 win over Illinois Valley at Waubonsee.

“I had to go out and give it my all, because I knew if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to go back and change anything,” Drynan said. “This was my best game. It feels great.”

Drynan, a Mother McAuley graduate, was named the region tourney MVP.

Andrew graduate Michelle Borgen added 22 points and Beecher product Ashley Carroll had 12 points for Moraine (16-17), which forfeited 15 games for using ineligible players.

For the first time since 1989, the Cyclones advanced to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament, which runs March 21-25 in Harrison, Ark.

“It's exciting to get there, but we want to win it,” Borgen said. “We just won every game by 20 points at regionals, so we're ready.”

The 6-foot-3 Drynan sent an early message to top-seeded Illinois Valley (21-10). The Cyclones came up with three offensive rebounds on their first offensive possession, with Drynan converting their fourth chance.

Drynan, Moraine Valley's all-time leading rebounder, added another putback on the Cyclones' second possession. That's the way it went all day as the Cyclones never trailed.

“It was our goal to show them right off the bat that we were ready to play,” Drynan said. “We've gone through some adversity this season with the forfeits, and all that just makes this feel even sweeter right now.”

Illinois Valley was within 28-24 with 6:10 left in the first half, but Sandburg graduate Taylor McGiles hit a pair of 3-pointers during a 10-0 run, and the Cyclones led by double digits the rest of the way.

McGiles finished with 11 points. Borgen, who was named to the all-tournament team along with teammate Diamond Dortch, was blown away by Drynan's performance.

“I felt like I was struggling earlier in the game, and I look over and see my teammate doing that,” Borgen said. “It was so good. I've never been so happy for her.”

Moraine coach Delwyn Jones said the Cyclones came into the postseason with a point to prove.

“We feel like the world's been against us,” he said. “We think we had some things taken from us that we had earned. I'm disappointed in the NJCAA because they were minor violations.

“We feel like we can go down to nationals and compete with anyone.”

St. Francis 51, Eastern Oregon 48: Charnelle Reed had 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals as top-seeded St. Francis (34-1) advanced to the NAIA Division II national semifinals in Sioux City, Iowa, for the first time in school history. The Saints, who won the Naismith Bracket, trailed by 14 points early in the second quarter before ultimately going ahead to stay at 40-39 on a basket by Reed with 12 seconds left in the third quarter. Victory wasn't assured, though, until Eastern Oregon missed a 3-pointer as time expired. Kaitlin Aylward added 15 points for USF, which will play defending champion and fellow top seed Marian (Ind.) at 6 p.m. Monday.

Lewis 14, Walsh (Ohio) 5: Kenny King went 4-for-6, hit a pair of two-run homers and totaled five RBIs to power Lewis (1-11) in the RussMatt Invitational in Auburndale, Fla.

St. Francis 5, Spring Arbor (Mich.) 2: Dan Darling hit a two-run single for St. Francis (13-11), which finished second among the seven teams in the Warner Invitational in Lake Wales, Fla.

Lewis 8, Northern State (S.D.) 0: Sarah DeMasi and Carley Maupin had three RBI apiece for Lewis (11-6) in the PFX Spring Games in Winter Garden, Fla. Dara Sanders (7-0) pitched a two-hitter and struck out seven.

Argo Invitational: Aaron Westmoreland prevailed in the 55-meter dash (6.69) and 200 (23.36) for runner-up Crete-Monee (102). Other winners included Tinley Park's Solomon Wilson-Walls in the 55 hurdles (7.90) and Argo's Carlos Garcia in the 400 (52.68).

St. Xavier 96, Friends (Kan.) 66: The second-round win in the NAIA Division II national quarterfinals in Sioux City, Iowa, enabled top-seeded St. Xavier (32-2) to set a school record for wins in a season. The Cougars were led by Kara Krolicki, whose game-high 29 points made her just the second player in program history to surpass 2,000 in a career. Brittany Collins (15 points, 14 rebounds) reached the 1,000-point plateau and Mikayla Leyden had 13 assists to tie a school record in addition to making her SXU's all-time leader in that category with 511.

Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) 70, Lewis 66: Program scoring leader Jamie Johnson had 21 points in collegiate finale as Lewis (23-9) was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Division II National Tournament in Ashland, Ohio. Rachel Hinders added 15 points and eight rebounds.

Steve Millar is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown. Freelance writer Josh Krockey contributed.