March 13, 2008

SIOUX CITY, Iowa. - No. 2 seed Hastings College (Neb.) cruised to a 76-41 victory over seventh seed King College (Tenn.) in the opening round of the17^th annual NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa.

 

Hastings (28-5) was very accurate from the field throughout the game shooting 57.7 percent from the field, making 30-of-52 attempts. The first half set the tone for the Broncos and they converted 60.9 percent of the time. At half, the Broncos led the Lady Tornado by a score of 42-21.

King (21-12), making their first appearance at the tournament since 1993, stayed within striking distance of Hastings for the first 10 minutes, trailing by just five with 10:14 remaining in the opening frame. Hastings then went on a 18-to-4 run to distance themselves from King.

Five different players reached double figures for Hastings led by Breanna Lien with 16. Kay Broekemeier pitched in with 15 while Rachel Isherwood and Heather McKeon added 11 points each. Haruka Yamashita had a game-high seven assists to go along with eight points. In all, 11 different players scored for the Broncos.

The Lady Tornado were led by the duo of Anisha Buchanan and Ashley Deans with 14 and 13 points respectively.

 Hastings advances to the second-round for the seventh time in the last nine years and will take on Benedictine at 2:15 p.m. on Friday.

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