March 15, 2006

JACKSON, Tenn. - Second-seeded University of Montana-Western defeated seventh-seeded William Carey College 67-51 to advance to the second round of the 26th annual NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship at Oman Arena.

After trailing by nine points (27-18) with six minutes to play in the first half, Montana-Western went 8-for-11 from the floor to take a 37-31 lead into halftime. While both teams shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, the UMW Lady Bulldogs held William Carey to 25 percent in the second half on their way to a 43 percent shooting performance in the second half. UMW grew their lead to as many as 20 points (67-47) with 1:30 to play for their largest lead of the game.

Megan Schmitz scored 22 points to lead UMW, including a 6-for-9 performance from 3-point range. Katerine Sunwell followed with 15 points, while Billi Suhr posted 12 points.

William Carey was led by Amanda McGill's 14 points and followed by 10 points for Alberta Norman.

Montana-Western improves to 29-5 on the season and advances to the second round for the first time since 2003 on Friday at 9 a.m. to face sixth-seeded Oklahoma Baptist University (24-9).