TJC Lady Apaches Could Win a National Championship Tonight in Lubbock, Texas

March Madness is here. Its the time of year when the best men's and women's basketball programs compete in their respective tournaments for a chance to hoist a championship trophy. While NCAA men's basketball is getting a majority of the attention right now (and our busted brackets become paper airplanes like mine), an East Texas junior college is on the cusp of winning a national championship.

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The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) has been holding the division 1 women's basketball tournament over the last five days. In the bracket of 24 teams, Trinity Valley Community College in Athens (Trinity Valley) and Tyler Junior College in Tyler (TJC) were the East Texas schools vying for a national championship. Trinity Valley made it into the Elite 8 but were defeated by Georgia Highlands, 84-73.

The TJC Lady Apaches, however, have made their way through the tournament and into the championship game against Georgia Highlands. To get to this point, the Lady Apaches defeated Chipola, 67-65, in the first round, then the number one seeded Three Rivers, 70-42. This got TJC into the Elite 8 against Arizona Western who they defeated, 79-67, followed by a Final Four victory over Western Nebraska, 88-76.

With that victory, TJC Lady Apaches will play Georgia Highlands at 7 p.m. tonight (March 21) at RIP Griffin Center in Lubbock. It looks like you can watch the game through njcaa.org. Go to THIS LINK, pay $5 and you'll be able to cheer on the Lady Apaches during the championship game.

It's been a great year for the Lady Apaches, especially for their coach, Trenia Tillis-Hoard. She is in her 22nd season as head coach and got her 500th win earlier this season. If they can win tonight, it will be Tillis-Hoard's first championship at TJC.

Good luck to the TJC Lady Apaches tonight. Check out highlights from last night's game (March 20) against Western Nebraska below.