Auburn Riverside graduate Kara Jenkins plays on college basketball’s biggest stage Saturday.

Jenkins, a sophomore guard, joined her Idaho State University teammates in punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a 49-46 victory over Northern Colorado in the Big Sky Conference championship last Saturday at Pocatello, Idaho.

Idaho State (24-7) earned an automatic berth as a No. 14 seed into the 64-team women’s field. The Bengals play third-seeded University of Miami (25-5) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Gonzaga University’s McCarthy Athletic Center.

The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Jenkins, who won two 3A state championships with the Ravens, was instrumental to the Bengals’ win, hitting a clutch 3-pointer off the bench and sealing the victory with a steal in the final seconds.

“She made a huge play down the stretch there,” Bengals coach Seton Sobolewski said. “Kara is just our great, smart defender. She sacrifices so much. She sacrifices her body. She’s the one who takes the charges. She’s very important to us, a very important piece to this team.”

Jenkins finished the game with five points in 13 minutes, a steal and four rebounds.

For the season, Jenkins averaged 2.1 points, 1.2 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game. She also has five blocks and 14 steals in 689 minutes played.