For the seventh time in nine years, the Rock Valley College Women's Basketball program is competed in the NJCAA DIII National Tournament. The Golden Eagles came into the national tournament boasting one of the nation's hottest win streaks at 17 games all while being rewarded the #2 overall seed in the tournament. RVC would face off against the #7 seed Passaic County (NJ) in the opening round of the tournament. But this wouldn't be your normal game, or tournament field after the pandemic of the covid_19 virus across the country.

Only participating teams, along with players, coaches and other team staff members, and essential staff are allowed in the facility during the tournament. And to make things better the tournament would be shortened from a three days to two days, with no consolation bracket. "Once we had got the news that the kids would be able to finish their season but with restrictions as a coaching staff we went into how to mentally prepare the kids to play in this type of environment." Stated Head Coach Watkins
And the Golden Eagles did just that in the opening round game where they would defeat Passaic County 78-64. The Golden Eagles saw four players score in double figures. The Golden Eagles were led by freshman's Hannah Malcomson (25 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assist, 4 steals), and Maria Hilby (18 points, 5 rebounds), and sophomore's Alexcia Neal (16 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assist), MaKayli Vann (13 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals), Samantha Harris (6 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assist).

The Golden Eagles would advance to the DIII National Tournament in the National Semi-Final game where they would see their season fall at the hands of eventual 2020 NJCAA DIII National Champion Western Technical College (WI) by a final score of 83-74.

"We didn't play our best game, couldn't finish certain shots that are normally a given, and we didn't take care of the ball particularly well along with not defending the 3pt ball and putting them to the line 41 times put us in a hole that was hard to climb out of." Stated Watkins "The one thing you can't say is even though we put ourselves in that bad spot our kids competed all the way down the final buzzer and actually had a shot at winning the ball game late in the 4^th quarter."
The Golden Eagles were led by freshman Hannah Malcomson (16 points, 4 rebounds), and sophomore's Carson Nitz (26 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assist), and MaKayli Vann (11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks).

"There is nothing for this group to hang their heads about looking back on this season. They did everything we asked of them from day one and it has shown in their success not only on the court but in the classroom and in their community as well." Stated Watkins

A host of Golden Eagles have earned postseason awards for their play in the 2019-20 season. Hannah Malcomson (Rockton, IL) was named 1^st team All Region IV and North Central Community College Conference (N4C). Malcomson also was named to the NJCAA DIII National All-Tournament Team. Carson Nitz (Beloit, WI) earned first team All-Region IV honors, as well as 2nd Team All-N4C. While freshman Marissa Kershner (Rockton, IL) and sophomore Samantha Harris (Roscoe, IL) received 2^nd team All- Region IV honors.
 

Head Women's Basketball Coach Darryl Watkins was N4C Coach of the Year, Region IV DIII Coach of the Year, as well as the Great Lakes District Coach of The Year.




Watkins guided the Golden Eagles to a 28-7 record in his first season at the helm. The Golden Eagles won the N4C title with a 14-0 record and played in their 7^th National Tournament in 9 years. Watkins took over the reins of the Rock Valley program in the summer of 2019.