HICKORY, N.C. - Jordan Engbrecht packed up what she needed and made the 230-mile trip from her hometown in South Dakota to the campus of Iowa Central as a walk-on for the Triton basketball team.

Now, two years later, Engbrecht is set to compete on the big stage of the NJCAA Div. II National Tournament with her teammates by her side.

Engbrecht and the Tritons compete in the quarterfinals Thursday night. Iowa Central (13-8 overall) earned its spot to nationals with a victory over Des Moines Area in the regional final.

For the 5-foot-8 Engbrecht, this is a perfect way to conclude her career.

"Me and my teammates would always joke about making it to nationals at the beginning of the season knowing that the odds of us making it weren't in our favor," she said. "Now that we have actually claimed our spot, it is an experience I will never forget.

"I wouldn't want to play in the national tournament with any other team than this one. They are and will always be my Triton family."

Engbrecht is averaging nearly seven points per game with three rebounds, shooting 30 percent from the 3-point line. For her career, she has 396 points, 177 rebounds, 64 assists, 61 steals and 12 blocked shots.

Just as the Tritons enter nationals having won nine of their last 10, Engbrecht has found her rhythm down the stretch, scoring at least eight points in five of those wins including a season-high 14 over the Bears to punch that ticket to the final 16.

"Having a rough start to the beginning of our season, it was hard to stay positive, but we all just kept pushing to be better," she said. "One we finally found our stride and went on our seven-game win streak, that's when we knew nationals was within reach."

-By Dana Becker