March 15, 2007

JACKSON, Tenn. - The first round of the 27th Annual NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championship concluded at Oman Arena Thursday night, and four of the eight lower-seeded teams in action Thursday moved on to second-round games tomorrow.

All eight second-round games will be played Friday, beginning with the day's first contest at 9 a.m.

Third-seeded Cumberland (Tenn.) finished the first half with a 13-2 run to take a 35-29 halftime lead, then held off a second-half rally from sixth-seeded Oklahoma Baptist for a 72-58 opening-round victory that kicked off the second day of first-round action. Isabelli Cunico came off the bench for Cumberland to lead all scorers with 20 points, while Betsy Simmons recorded a double-double to lead Oklahoma Baptist, tallying 16 points and 12 rebounds.

In the second game of the day, second-seeded Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) built up a 25-point first half lead and led by as many as 30 points in the second half in an 86-66 victory over Columbia (Mo.). Seven players scored at least six points in Lewis-Clark State's balanced offensive attack, with Janeen Nelson recording a game-high 17 points. Columbia was led by LeAnn Fossum's 16-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Fifth-seeded Langston (Okla.) took advantage of 25 second-chance points to register the first upset of the day in the third game, a 77-74 victory over fourth-seeded Azusa Pacific (Calif.). In a game that featured 13 ties and 10 lead changes, Azusa Pacific twice pulled to within a single point in the final 30 seconds and even had a chance to tie the game and force overtime with a desperation three-pointer from halfcourt as time expired, but the shot came up short of the rim to preserve the victory for Langston. Matalya McBath-Belvin led Langston with 20 points, and Monica Somers scored 20 points to lead Azusa Pacific, setting the program's single-season scoring record in the process with 676 points.

In the fourth game, eighth-seeded Brescia (Ky.) became just the second team since the NAIA's seeded-quarter system was implemented in 2003 to knock off a No. 1 seed, defeating Lee (Tenn.) 81-73 in overtime. Brescia trailed only three times, never by more than two points, and led by as many five points in the final minute of regulation, only to see Lee's Jessica Still sink a three-pointer and a pair of free throws to even the game at 69-69 and send the game to overtime. After knocking down just one three-pointer in its first 17 attempts, Brescia's Sarah McDaniel and Kellie Childress nailed back-to-back three-pointers in the first minute of overtime. Danielle Jenkins and Paula Carver combined for 32 points and 21 rebounds for Brescia, with each collecting 16 points to go with double-digit rebounds. Lee's Jessica Still was the game's leading scorer and rebounder, tallying 26 points and 12 rebounds

Top-seeded Saint Xavier (Ill.) avoided the upset bug and never trailed in an 85-73 first-round victory over eighth-seeded West Virginia Tech. Candis Jackson scored a game-high 22 points and collected a game-high four assists for Saint Xavier, and West Virginia Tech featured four starters in double figures, led by a 19-point, nine-rebound performance from Orlandrea Moore, who also blocked two shots.

Fifth-seeded Lambuth (Tenn.) scored 14 straight points near the end of the first half and led by double-digits the rest of the way in a 68-46 win over fourth-seeded Auburn Montgomery (Ala.). With just over nine minutes remaining in the opening half, Lambuth turned a 20-18 lead into a 16-point margin at 34-18, scoring 14 straight while holding Auburn Montgomery scoreless for over seven minutes. Lambuth led by at least 10 points the rest of the game. Meghan Fuqua led all scorers with 18 points on eight-of-11 shooting from the field, and Reggie Maddox added 16 points on eight-of-12 shooting for Lambuth, which shot 67 percent (16-for-24) from the field in the second half. Auburn Montgomery was led by Brittany Moore, who scored 10 points and was the only Lady Senator to finish with double figures in scoring.

Third-seeded Southern Nazarene (Okla.) rallied from a 17-point deficit with just over 13 minutes remaining to tie the game in regulation before edging sixth-seeded Loyola (La.) 78-77 in overtime. Trailing 53-36 with 13:11 remaining in regulation, Southern Nazarene used three straight Brittni Brown free throws to cut the lead to 14, and the Crimson Storm scored the next 10 points, cutting the lead to 64-60 with 4:46 left. Southern Nazarene twice closed the gap to just a single point before Lashelle Chandler tied it up at 70-70 with a minute and a half left with her only three-pointer of the contest. Khady Ngom finished with team-highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds for Southern Nazarene, and Loyola was led by Dani Holland's 20-point, eight-rebound performance.

Seventh-seeded Westminster College (Utah) held second-seeded Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.) to just 18 second-half points en route to a 53-39 victory in the final game of the first round. In the lowest-scoring game of the first round, neither team shot better than 26 percent from the field, but Westminster was nearly flawless at the free throw line, sinking 16-of-17 attempts, including 12-of-13 in the second half to seal the victory. Shannon Evans scored a game-high 20 points for Westminster, and Alicia Haberle added 13 points and seven rebounds. Point Loma Nazarene was led by Sutton-Wodarski's 13 points.