March 19, 2007

JACKSON, Tenn. - Cumberland University (Tenn.) advanced to the first title game in program history with a 68-64 win over previously-unbeaten Vanguard University (Calif.) in the first semifinal at the 27th Annual NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championship at Oman Arena.

Cumberland led the entire game until a 45-second scoring flurry in which Vanguard took its first lead at 61-59 on a Lacey Burns three-pointer with 3:22 to play. Cumberland's Renae Williams immediately answered with a three-pointer, but Vanguard took the lead right back at 63-62 on Rachel Besse's putback with 2:46 remaining in the game. Cumberland's next three possessions consisted of a turnover and two missed three-pointers, but Isabelli Cunico rebounded a miss with just under a minute to play and buried her only three-pointer of the game with 53 seconds to play.

Cumberland rebounded Besse's missed putback with 42 seconds to play, and Williams knocked down her fourth three-pointer of the second half, her fifth of the game, with the shot clock winding down to give Cumberland a 68-63 lead with less than 15 seconds to play. Lacey Burns was fouled on her three-point attempt with 2.9 seconds left, but she missed the first and third free throws on the three-shot foul. Vanguard turned the ball over on the rebound, and Cumberland was able to inbound and run out the clock to clinch their berth in tomorrow's national title game.

Kiana Robinson opened the scoring with a three-pointer in the first minute, and Tomika Hall's basket on Cumberland's next possession gave the Bulldogs an early 5-0 lead. Cumberland used a 14-4 run later in the period to take a 25-12 lead with 13:04 to play in the half, then extended the lead to 14 points at 35-21 on William's lone first-half trey with just under six minutes before halftime.

Besse answered with two more of Vanguard's 32 points in the paint, and after a three-minute scoring drought, Kelly Schmidt made four straight free throws and Lindsay Rinke sank a three-pointer to finish off a 9-0 run that brought Vanguard to within 35-30 with less than 30 seconds to play in the half. In the closing seconds of the half, Ashley Cross put back Williams' missed three-point attempt to end the run and give Cumberland a 37-30 halftime cushion.

Less than four minutes into the second half, Robinson pushed the lead back to 10 points at 47-37 when she made the second of Cumberland's only two second-half free throws, but Schmidt answered with her second three-pointer of the entire season to cut the lead back to single digits. Jessica Richter, Vanguard's scoring leader this season with an average over 21 points per game, picked up her third foul with just under 10 minutes to play in the game, then drew her fourth and fifth within seconds of each other, sending her out of the game with 8:09 to play and Vanguard trailing 56-49.

Besse blocked Hall's attempt in the lane on the ensuing possession, and Schmidt sank another three-pointer to cut the lead to 56-52 with 7:30 to play. Besse's layup cut the lead to 56-54 with 6:53 remaining before Williams scored Cumberland's only points in a five and a half-minute stretch, sinking a three-pointer with 5:54 left to give Cumberland a 59-54 lead. Schmidt scored in the paint, and Besse nailed a pair of free throws when she was fouled after coming up with a steal with 4:08 to play, bringing Vanguard to within 59-58 and setting up the exciting conclusion.

Robinson scored 20 points, while Williams added 15 points, with each hitting five three-pointers for Cumberland. C'Kala Humes added 12 points, and Hall finished with eight points and 12 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Cross scored six points and collected game-highs of four steals and eight assists. Cumberland shot 42 percent (11-for-26) from three-point range, including a 46 percent clip (six-for-13) in the second half.

Vanguard was led by Schmidt's 22-point, 13-rebound performance, and Besse added 17 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks. The Lions, a 75 percent free throw shooting team on the season, made just four-of-13 free throws in the second half (31 percent), limiting their ability to utilize advantages in points in the paint (32-24) and rebounding (46-36). Richter finished with 11 points and five rebounds, while Tiari Goold dished out seven assists for the Lions.

In four years of play at the NAIA Tournament, Kelly Schmidt scored 304 total points, ranking seventh on the all-time tournament career list, and her total is the highest career total since the 1996 tournament put three players into the top six. Schmidt finished with 95 career free throws in tournament play, just three shy of the tournament career free throws made record, and her nine attempts set the tournament career free throw attempts record with 118. Her 131 rebounds during her four seasons at the NAIA Tournament ranks fourth all-time.

With the win, Cumberland improves to 27-7 overall and will take on the winner of tonight's other semifinal between Union (Tenn.) and Lambuth (Tenn.) in Tuesday's NAIA championship game at 6 p.m. Vanguard's 31-game win streak was snapped, ending the Lions' campaign in the NAIA semifinals for the second straight year while dropping their final overall record to 31-1.