March 9, 2007

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - No. 1 seed College of the Ozarks (Mo.) got one step closer to a return trip to the championship game with a thrilling win in overtime, 88-82, against No. 4 seed Northwestern (Iowa) 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.

 

Ozarks (30-2) rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit, for the win. Northwestern (24-9) built their first half lead behind 16 points from Deb Remmerde, who drained four three-point field goals.

 

A pair of free throws by Northwestern's Randa Hulstein gave the Red Raiders their biggest lead of the game, 11 points, with 16:06 left in the second half. Over the next five and half minutes the Bobcats chipped away at the lead, pulling even thanks to a 15-4 run.

Ozarks stretched their lead to four before the Red Raiders turned the tables, taking a four point advantage with 24 seconds left in regulation on a traditional three point play by Hulstein. A quick bucket pulled Ozarks to within a bucket.

 

Amy Larsen made one of two from the charity stripe to push the lead to three for Northwestern. On the next possession Kayli Combs hit a step-back three with 12 seconds left to knot the game at 72. Remmerde had a look to win the game as time expired in regulation but the shot fell short.

 

In the overtime frame Ozarks hit 12 free throws to pull away. Janessa Demuth paced the Bobcats with the a tournament-high 38 points on 11-of-15 shooting to go along with 13-of-15 from the charity stripe. She also added seven rebounds, six steals and four assists. Combs added 21 points while Allison Rader chipped in with a dozen.
 

Remmerde paced Northwestern with 31 points, despite struggling from the field (9-of-25), she did add eight free throws and eight rebounds. Miranda Boekhout added a double double (12 points, 10 rebounds) while Larson added 10 points.

 

Ozarks will take on the winner the Bethel vs. Sterling contest in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 8:00 p.m.  

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