EDISON, NJ - The nationally-ranked NCC women's basketball team locked up the #2 seed for the upcoming Region XIX tournament, defeating Middlesex County College, 74-59, on Tuesday night.

Melanie Palko scored a career-high 31 points, including five 3-pointers, as the Spartans pulled away from a 35-31 halftime lead to defeat the Colts and improve to 17-2 in region play.

"Another slow start tonight," remarked Head Coach Art Wolfe, "we really struggled out of the gate, but the girls really picked it up in the second half."

April Andrews added 16 points and 11 rebounds and Halie Cintron added 10 points and 10 boards.

NCC, which hosts Passaic County Community College on Thursday in their regular season finale, will receive a bye in the first round of the region tournament and thus advance to the Region XIX Final Four at Lackawanna College.

"Obviously we are thrilled to be going to the final four," stated Wolfe, "but I do not want the girls to be satisfied ... we still have a very important game on Thursday before we can even start thinking about the tournament."

Northampton, ranked 7th in the latest NJCAA poll, is now 21-5 overall.