March 14, 2008
SIOUX CITY, Iowa. - No. 3 seed Concordia University, Nebraska was able to hold off Davenport (Mich.) and earn a hard fought 82-72 victory in the second round of the17th annual NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa.
A topsy-turvy first half both teams had runs to take lead of seven and eight points respectively but the two teams played even basketball to finish the half with Davenport taking a one point lead into the break at 32-31.
The Panthers were able to get a quick bucket after a Concordia miss but the Panthers would not score again until freshman Brittany Lyman hit a free throw with 15:09 remaining. During that span Concordia couldn't miss jumping out to a 47-34 lead. Davenport would chip into that lead and cut the deficit and with a lay in by senior Jeanette Woodberry, Davenport tied Concordia at 50-50.
The changing point in the ball game when with the Bulldogs leading by four, junior guard Melissa Tinkham's three point attempt rimmed out, senior Libby Hirssig pulled down the rebound. On the same possession Concordia missed three shots and Hirssig pulled down three offensive rebounds before finishing herself to expend the Bulldog lead to six from which Davenport would not be able to close the gap as Concordia would pull away with free throws. On the day Concordia shot 72 percent from the charity stripe while going to the line 43 times (31-for-43).
Libby Hirssig led the Concordia offense netting the double-double of 19 points and 18 rebounds, while junior Whitney Stichka added 19 points and junior Melissa Tinkham chipped in with 17 points.
Davenport was led by senior point guard Jeanette Woodberry with a double-double of 28 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Panthers.
Concordia advances to the quarter finals to take on the winner of the Ozarks (Mo.) vs. MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
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