March 17, 2006

JACKSON, Tenn. - Sixth-seeded Oklahoma Baptist University knocked off second-seeded University of Montana-Western 64-53 to advance to the quarterfinals of the 26th annual NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship at Oman Arena.

Montana-Western took a 13-7 lead through the first six minutes of play, but the OBU Lady Bisons worked to tie the Lady Bulldogs 21-21 at the half, with both teams shooting below 30 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play.

The Lady Bisons and Lady Bulldogs swapped leads four times and had seven ties in the first 15 minutes of the second half, until OBU took a 50-48 lead with a basket by Dilenny Castillo to spark a 16-6 run to the buzzer. OBU was 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the final five minutes to hold on for the double-digit victory and become the first sixth-seeded team to advance to the quarterfinals since the NAIA switched their bracket to quartered seeding in 2003.

OBU shot 54.5 percent in the second half, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and 94 percent from the charity stripe. They were held to 27 percent shooting from the floor in the first half.

Dilenny led OBU with 22 points, including a perfect 14-of-14 from the free throw line, and nine rebounds. Rachel Heins followed with 14 points.

Montana-Western was led by Becky O'Neil's 21 points, including 9-of-12 from the floor. Megan Schmitz followed with 13 points, while Katherine Sunwall had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Oklahoma Baptist improves to 25-9 on the season and advances to their first-ever quarterfinal appearance on Saturday at 2 p.m. to face the winner of top-seeded Vanguard University (Calif.) and fifth-seeded University of the Cumberlands (Ky.).