March 10, 2007

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - No. 1 seed College of the Ozarks (Mo.) advanced to the semifinals for a second consecutive year with a 87-55 win over No. 2 seed Bethel (Ind.) on Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the 16^th annual NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa.

Ozarks (33-2) scored the first bucket of the game, a three by Allison Rader, and never looked back as they shot over fifty percent from the field (50.8 percent), including an amazing 61.5 percent from beyond the arc in the second half.

 

Bethel (23-9) actually shot better than the Bobcats for the game, hitting at a 51.0 percent clip, but in the end it was timely shooting from long range that carried Ozarks.

 

Abby Noll, who finished with a game-high 30 points, hit a triple to open the second half to cut the Bobcat lead to single digits at nine. That was as close as Bethel would get, as the Bobcats opened up a 27-point lead that was too much for the Lady Pilots to overcome.

 

In addition to Noll, two other players reached double digits for Bethel. Natalie Young, who averaged 31 point per tournament game coming into the contest, finished with 26 while Gretchen Geyer chipped in with 11.

 

For Ozarks, seven players saw the court for Ozarks, six of them scoring - five in double figures. Kayli Combs led the way with 23 points, going 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. Rebekah Howard added 17 points, Janessa DeMuth had 15, Josie Sparkman 13 and Lindsy Murray added 10 off the bench.

The Bobcats will take on the winner the MidAmerica in the semifinals on Monday, March 12 at 8:00 p.m.  

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