T-R FILE PHOTOS - Marshalltown Community College sophomores Olivia Heartwell (30), left, and Kenijae Cherry (22), right, have signed with four-year programs to continue their basketball careers at the next level in the fall. Heartwell will attend Salem University in Salem, W.Va., while Cherry will go to Mount Marty University in Yankton, S.D.

A pair of Marshalltown Community College women’s basketball players have made their commitments to the next level.

Tiger sophomores Kenijae Cherry and Olivia Heartwell have signed to continue their basketball careers with four-year programs, the school announced this week.

Cherry, a third-team All-Region XI selection and the Defensive Player of the Year, has picked Mount Marty University, an NAIA program in Yankton, S.D., while Heartwell has signed with Salem University, an NCAA Division II school in Salem, W.Va.

Cherry, a 6-foot-2 center from Las Vegas, was named to the five-player All-Defensive Team of the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference after leading the 12-team league with 55 blocked shots during league games this past winter.

Cherry finished with 84 blocks, which ranked third in all of National Junior College Athletic Association Division II, and she was fourth in the country with 2.9 blocks per game.

For the year, Cherry averaged 6.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

Heartwell, a 5-foot-8 forward, contributed 6.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game for MCC this winter. The Anchorage, Alaska native transferred to Marshalltown after having played her freshman campaign at Southwestern CC in Creston, where she averaged 4.2 points and 3.5 rebounds.

Cherry and Heartwell join fellow MCC sophomore Shenell Stewart at the next level after Stewart committed to Point Park University, a Division II school in Pittsburgh, Pa., earlier this spring.