March 8, 2007
SIOUX CITY, Iowa - The second day of the 16th annual NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa, featured just one upset as No. 5 seed Mount Marty (S.D.) picked up their first-ever tournament win over No. 4 seed Bryan (Tenn.).
In Mount Marty's win, the Lancers had a single two-point field goal in the first half, but drained seven shots from behind the arc (46.7 percent) along with nine free throws en route to a 32-15 lead at intermission. The Lancers won the game by a final score of 63-49.
Mount Marty will face No.1 seed Saint Francis (Ind.) in the second round. Saint Francis advanced with a 75-71 victory over Trinity Christian. Saint Francis had seven different players with at least six points, paced by Chivonn Keppeler with 16, Tara Dice with 12 and Marie Kaufmann with 10 points
In the opening game of the day No. 3 seed Ottawa University (Kan.) rallied from a two-point halftime deficit to defeat No. 6 seed Saint Ambrose University (Iowa), 67-57. Ottawa had a balanced attack with five players reaching double digits. Hallie Boyce led the Lady Braves with 16 points.
Ottawa will face MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) in an all Kansas match-up as the Lady Pioneers led from start to finish defeating No. 7 seed Geneva College (Pa.), 86-64. MidAmerica Nazarene (31-3) forced 10 Geneva turnovers and limited the Golden Tornadoes to just 17.9 percent shooting in the first half as MidAmerica cruised to the win.
Last year's runner-up, College of the Ozarks (Mo.) advanced with a 74-55 win over No. 8 seed Edward Waters College (Fla.). The Bobcats drained 10 three-point field goals and made thee most of their opportunities from the charity stripe, hitting on 88.9 percent of their tries en route to the first round win.
Ozarks will face No. 4 seed Northwestern (Iowa), who picked up a 98-69 win over Daemen (N.Y.). Amy Larson led the Red Raiders in scoring with 20 points while Jaime Hoegh added a double double (16 points, 11 rebounds). Deb Remmerde, the last year's player of the year, played 23 minutes and scored 17 points. Remmerde was questionable coming into the game due to an injury.
Bethel (Ind.) will face Sterling (Kan.) in the final second round game on Friday. Bethel advanced with a 98-86 win over Berea (Ky.) that featured the top individual scoring performance of 33 points by Natalie Young. Abby Noll also turned in a solid offensive performance going for 28 points, getting eight from the charity strip.
Sterling saved the best for last as they downed Corban (Ore.) in the final game of the night, 80-70. The two squads traded were tied or traded the lead 18 times in the first half before the Lady Warriors pulled away in the second half.
For statistical leaders from the first day of action along with more information on the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship log on to www.naia.org. The 32-team, single elimination tournament continues Friday, March 9, featuring eight second round games. Saturday is the quarterfinal round and Monday, March 12 is the semifinal round. The tournament concludes Tuesday, March 13 with the championship game at 6:30 p.m.
