The North Country Community College women's basketball team's historic season will continue.
The Saints (25-2), behind a game-high 21 points from Shaneika Smith, dropped Hudson Valley Community College 64-45 in an NJCAA Division III, Region III quarterfinal at Allyn Hall in Syracuse Friday.
North Country advanced to today's semifinals, where it will meet Mohawk Valley Community College, a 61-35 winner over SUNY Broome.
"We played very well defensively, and we played very smart," Saints coach Jerrad Dumont said. "We shut down My'Asia Alston. I think she ended up with (11) points. She had a couple of those points at the end of the game when the clock was running out.
"The team did a phenomenal job working the double and getting the ball out of her hands. To be honest, I think that was the difference in the game, was shutting her down."
The Vikings (18-9) scored the game's first basket with 35 seconds elapsed in the first half but never but never led again.
Hudson Valley kept the game within single digits until 9:18 of the second half, when North Country established its first 10-point lead.
"We started to score a little bit," Dumont said. "You know, we held them to 20 points in the first half, but we struggled to score. We missed some shots and turned the ball over in a couple situations.
"In the second half, we went on a little bit of a run. We were able to get steals and some layups without having to run so much offense."
The Saints controlled the glass, outrebounding the Vikings 49-37, which created 11 second-chance points.
Smith led the way with 21 points, nine rebounds, three assist and three steals. Fountain chipped in with 16 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.
North Country and Mohawk Valley split during the regular season. The Saints won at home 65-51 Nov. 8, 2014 before falling on the road 63-47 Jan. 24.
"I think it's going to be interesting," Dumont said. "I think there have been a lot of jitters when we played each other the last couple of times, but I think both teams will be ready to go."
