March 13, 2008

SIOUX CITY, Iowa. - No. 1 seed Northwestern College (Iowa) cruised to a 97-48 victory over the eighth seed Holy Names (Calif.) 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.

Northwestern (31-2) pulled away early and never looked back. The Red Raiders depth and experience shined as Northwestern out rebounded Holy Names 71-34. Holy Names was cold offensively managing to shoot only 22% from long range (5-for-22).

Senior Debbie Remmerde led all scorers with 30 points on 10-of-17 shooting, while going 6-for-7 from three-point land. Remmerde now sits sixth on the all-time scoring leader board with 222 career tournament points. Senior Amy Larson added 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting and Senior Crystal Algood netted the double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Red Raiders.

The Hawks were led offensively by senior Martha Spivey with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Sarah Henning added 10 points off the bench for Holy Names.

Northwestern advances to the second round to take on Cornerstone University (Mich.) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday