Bloomfield College Claims 1st USCAA National Championship

BUFFALO, N.Y. (Mar. 6, 2026) … Tournament Most Valuable Player Nia Mallette scored 26 points to lead top-seeded Bloomfield College held off a charge from third-seeded Paul Quinn College to take a 72-64 win and the 2026 USCAA Women’s Division I National Championship on Friday.

After a close first quarter that saw the Bears hold a 23-17 lead, the Tigers chopped away at the margin and tied it twice. The last being at 25-all on a Zaire Brown layup with 5:44 left in the half. Aaliyah Rose went 1-of-2 from the line with 109 seconds remaining to make the Paul Quinn deficit 33-29, but that was the last points of the half for PQC as Bloomfield scored the last nine points as Mallette hit a pair of free throws for a 42-29 halftime lead.

The Bears did another run to close out the third quarter as they outscored the Tigers 8-0 with Kaleigh Valle’s triple putting Bloomfield up 61-44. A layup from Anisha Able made it a 10-0 run to start the fourth for a 63-44 margin.

Paul Quinn did cut that fourth quarter deficit down to seven on a triple from Brown with 26 seconds left, but Mallette went 5-of-6 from the line in the final 76 seconds to keep the Tigers caged up.

Joining Mallette in double figures were Able (21 points/17 rebounds), and Valle (17 pts/3 assists/3steals) for Bloomfield. Canai McPherson was the leading scorer for Paul Quinn with 23 points, five rebounds and five assists. Joining her in double figures were Emery Black (19 pts/7 rebounds) and Brown (14 pts/10 rebounds).

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM

So., F, Chelsea Johnson - Bryant & Stratton (Buffalo)

Gr., G, Paul Quinn – Canai McPherson

Sr., F, Paul Quinn – Zaire Brown

Sr., F, Bloomfield – Anisha Able

Sr., F, Bloomfield – Mia Martinez

MVP

Jr., G, Bloomfield – Nia Mallette