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About six minutes of game action later, the Aztecs had advanced to their first national championship game in 14 years.

Thanks to a wild, last-minute comeback Friday night, the Aztecs rallied to a 115-112 overtime win over No. 2 seed Baltimore CCBC Essex in the NJCAA Division II semifinals in Joplin, Mo.

The No. 6 seed Aztecs (29-5) will play in the championship game at 5 p.m. Saturday against No. 4 seed Johnson County (Kan.) CC. Pima has never won the national title; its second-place finish in 2011 is the program's best.

“We still have 40 minutes. We still have to play our hardest and be locked in,� said Pima's Kylie Sours-Miller in a press release. “As soon as the locker room celebration was over, we were prepping to play Johnson County.�

Pima trailed 98-90 with 65 seconds left before outscoring the Knights 9-1 to force overtime. Amphi High School grad Mattanaya Vital converted a four-point play to cut the lead to 98-95 with 39 seconds left. After a CCBC Essex turnover, Sours-Miller scored in the paint to cut the lead to 98-97. The Knights hit 1 of 2 free throws before Sours-Miller scored under the basket with 2.8 seconds left to tie the game at 99.

The Aztecs controlled the start of the extra period, and Kennedi Niemann's 3-pointer made it 104-99, making it a 14-1 run for Pima.

The Knights cut it to two points on two occasions after that, but Niemann's steal and then basket off an assist from Vital made it 112-106.

CCBC Essex had won 15 straight coming in. Pima has ended a double-digit win streak by its opponent in all three games at the national tournament. The Knights had ended Pima's season in the quarterfinals in 2023 and the second round in 2024.

Everyone chipped in for the Aztecs. Sours-Miller finished with a team-high 31 points to go with nine rebounds. Rori Hoffmeyer added 23 points and nine rebounds. Vital had 18 points and seven assists, while Niemann notched 17 points and five rebounds. Freshman Melicia Nelson fell just shy of a triple-double with 13 assists, 10 rebounds and nine points.

The Knights' Gigi Gamble had 53 points and drained 10 3-pointers in the loss.

The game was close throughout, with 13 ties and 14 lead changes.

Pima men eliminated

The No. 1-seeded Aztecs men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season in the NJCAA Division II semifinals Friday, falling 95-74 to No. 4 seed Parkland College in Danville, Ill.

Pima (34-1) fell behind 26-8 early and spent the rest of the game trying to battle back. The Aztecs cut the lead to 44-38 at halftime and then 49-45 early in the second half. Pima later cut the margin to six at 58-52 with 11:34 left on a Max Majerle 3-pointer. But the Cobras (33-2) responded with a 9-0 run and never led by less than nine after that.

Cohenj Gonzales led Pima with 21 points.

The Aztecs play in the third-place game at 3 p.m. Saturday against Kalamazoo Valley (Mich.) CC.

“We’ll just try to get them to regroup, get a win (Saturday) and end this season on a winning note,� Pima head coach Brian Peabody said in a press release. “They certainly deserve that with what they’ve accomplished this whole year."