March 10, 2007
SIOUX CITY, Iowa - The second round of the 16th annual NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa, saw all four No. 1 seeds advance, including an exciting overtime win for College of the Ozarks (Mo.). Individually, Cedarville's Brittany Smart eclipsed the career all-time tournament scoring record with a 25-point performance. Smart now has 346 points.
Cedarville defeated No. 4 Morningside, 95-79, behind Smart's record-setting performance. In the two previous tournament meetings between the squads, Morningside defeated the Lady Jackets in the finals.
In perhaps the most exciting thus far in the tournament Ozarks rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit, for the win. Northwestern built their first half lead behind 16 points from Deb Remmerde, who drained four three-point field goals. In the overtime frame Ozarks hit 12 free throws to pull away. Janessa Demuth paced the Bobcats with 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 finished with 31 for Northwestern.
Defending national champion Hastings College (Neb.) advanced to the quarterfinals with a 57-46, win over No. 3 seed William Jewell (Mo.). It was a tale of two halves in the opening game of the second round as the Broncos of dominated the first half, outscoring William Jewell 16-2 in the opening 6:07. The Broncos never looked back and will take on Indiana Wesleyan in the opening game of the quarter finals.
Indiana Wesleyan kept their perfect season intact, defeating Tabor (Kan.), 61-44. The Wildcats pulled away in the second half behind the play of Liz Howerth. Howerth was a consistent force for the Wildcats, finishing with 26 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot. In an even game statistically, both squads shot well, with Tabor hitting 41.5 percent and Indiana Wesleyan 41.4 percent of their shots. Tabor edged the Wildcats on the boards, 33-30, but Indiana Wesleyan made the most of 23 turnovers by the Blue Jays.
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) hung on for an 81-78 victory over Ottawa University (Kan.). Ottawa held the early advantage, jumping out to a 12-4 lead just three minutes into the contest. The Lady Braves played in front for the majority of the first half, but MidAmerica closed out the opening frame on a 20-7 run to break free from a 34-34 tie.
Amanda Stichler scored seven of the Lady Braves' final nine points, all in the final two minutes, including a shot with 32 seconds to pull Ottawa within a bucket. Jenna Matson hit a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to preserve the MidAmerica win. She finished with a game high-30 points.
Saint Francis (Ind.) moved on with a 63-46 win over No. 5 seed Mount Marty (S.D.). The teams were tied five times and swapped the lead six times in the opening frame as both teams led by as many as four. Mount Marty was able stay close despite shooting just 24.1 percent from the floor, although three of their seven field goals were from beyond the arc.
Saint Francis pulled away slowly in the second half and took their biggest lead (10 points) on a bucket by Jessica Hathaway. The Cougars shot 45.5 percent from the field in the second half and 42.4 percent for the game and were the benefit of continued cold shooting by the Lancers who shot just 25.9 percent for the game.
Taylor (Ind.) became the lowest seed to advance to the quarterfinals with a 67-61 victory over Iowa Wesleyan College. Taylor led for the majority of the game, but had to rally in the last five minutes after Iowa Wesleyan battled back to take the lead. 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.
In the final game of the night, No. 2 seed Bethel picked up a win against Sterling College (Kan.), 89-58, to advance to the quarterfinals. Bethel College's Natalie Young turned in another dominating performance with 29 points on 11 of 14 shooting from the floor. The 5'11 junior from Berne, IN has now totaled 62 points in two games at the national tournament. Hannah Richards chipped in 13 points and 14 rebounds for the double-double.
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 with the quarterfinal round on Saturday, March 10 and Monday, March 12 is the semifinal round. The tournament concludes Tuesday, March 13 with the championship game at 6:30 p.m.
