March 9, 2007

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Taylor (Ind.) became the lowest seed to advance to the quarterfinals with a 67-61 victory over Iowa Wesleyan College on Friday evening at the 16^th annual NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa.

 

Taylor (23-11) led for the majority of the game, but had to rally in the last five minutes after Iowa Wesleyan (22-11) battled back to take the lead.

In the first half the Taylor Lady Trojans led by as many as 15, but took just a two point advantage, 28-26, into the lockerroom at half.

 

The contest featured a number of runs by both squads. Taylor opened the second half with a 20-7 spurt jump back to a 15 point cushion. Iowa Wesleyan countered with a run of their own, outscoring the Lady Trojans 19-4 over the next eight minutes.

 

With 4:46 left the Tigers took just their third lead of the game on a bucket by JoBeth Vincent. After the squads traded turnovers, Taylor took the lead for good on a triple by Allison Easterhaus. The Lady Trojans sealed the win with another triple, this one by Katie Madden, along with hitting 4-of-5 free throws. 

 

Taylor had four players reach double figures, led by Jenny Dawes with 18 points. Paige Rudolph chipped in with a dozen while Kate Madden and Amber Bond added 11 points each.

 

Nine different players scored for Iowa Wesleyan, two in double figures; Goodman (17) and Ashley Swick (10).

Taylor will take on the winner the Morningside vs. Cedarville contest in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.  

For more information on the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship visit www.naia.org.