March 14, 2008

SIOUX CITY, Iowa. - No. 2 seed Hastings College (Neb.) finished strong in a 70-62 victory over Benedictine (Kan.) in the second 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 (29-5) shrugged off a sluggish offensive performance that included having 23 turnovers, and picked up a deep threat in the form of sophomore Heather McKeon who contributed 17 points that included going 5-for-9 from three-point land, coming off the bench for the Broncos. None bigger than the final two coming in waning minutes of the second half, the last coming from five feet beyond the arc that hit nothing but net. McKeon's two three pointers extended the Hastings lead from four to10, proving to be too large of a deficit for the Ravens to overcome.

Benedictine (29-6) could not find an offensive rhythm hitting on only 33 percent of their three-point shots (5-of-15) and were out muscled on the boards by the Broncos. Hastings held a distinct advantage in the rebound margin (36-25).

Along with McKeon, Hastings also had three other players reach double digits in points: Breanna Lien (14), Haruka Yamashita (13), and Kay Broekemeier (12).

Senior Nicole Fields led Benedictine with a game high 24 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. Junior Abby Winter added 14 points for the Ravens.

Hastings advances to the quarter finals to take on Bethel (Ind.) at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.