March 20, 2006

JACKSON, Tenn. - Cinderella has traded in her ball gown and put on the red and blue of Lubbock Christian University (Texas), as the sixth-seeded Lady Chaps continued their most successful season in history with a 69-59 victory over top-seeded Vanguard University (Calif.) in the semifinals of the 26th annual NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship at Oman Arena.

Lubbock becomes the first sixth-seeded team to advance to a championship game of the NAIA Tournament in the current bracket system, something that many may have seen impossible when matched up against the Lions (31-2) that remained at the top of the polls all season.

"There's a sign in the arena that says it all for us," says senior Lubbock center Candace Clenney, referring to the Rawlings basketball sign that hangs to the left of the north end zone that reads: "It's not who you are. It's what you bring."

"That has been our motivation every night. We know that each time we step on the floor we have to bring our game," said senior guard Casie Legg.

And bring their game they did.

Lubbock opened the game with a 16-4 run to open the first seven minutes of play and never let up.

"That was giant for us," said head coach Steve Gomez. "I was afraid we'd come out as tight as we can be, but they did a good job sticking with it."

"Coach would tell us every time out, `You're not tired. You're not tired'," said LCU freshman guard Sierra Wilcox.

The Lady Chaps let the Lady Lions cut the lead to six, 20-14, at the 9:45 minute mark, but then shot up to their largest lead of the half, 30-16, with 7:15 to play in the opening period. They went on to take a 40-30 lead at the half, shooting 50 percent from the field, including 6-of-11 from the 3-point arc, while holding the Lions to 27.8 percent shooting.

In the second half, Lubbock continued their success to reach their largest lead of the half at 19 points, 58-41, with 13 minutes to play in the game. Vanguard orchestrated a 13-2 run over the next six and a half minutes to cut the lead to six, 60-54, but that is the closest they would come. Lubbock went on to shoot 42 percent in the game and hold the Lions, who entered the game shooting 50.3 for the tournament, to just 28.8 percent for the game.

"We knew they were going to get shots, but our focus was to box out and not let them get the second shot," said Legg, as the Lady Chaps grabbed 41 defensive rebounds to Vanguards 15 offensive boards.

Carolyn Manning led the Lady Chaps with 14 points, just shy of perfection on the night, while shooting 5-of-6 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Legg followed with 11 points, while Ashley Hunter added 10. Clenney led with six assists and a game-high 14 rebounds, 13 off the defensive glass.

Vanguard was led by Kelly Schmidt's 26 points, 17 of which came in the first half. Lacey Burns followed with 14 points. Tiari Goold led with six assists, while Rachel Besse had a team-high nine rebounds.

After the game Wilcox, a freshman with three high school state championships in her file, began to look to tomorrow's championship, telling seniors Clenney and Legg, "40 more minutes - The final 40 minutes of your life, why not give it our all!"

Lubbock improves to 23-11 on the season and advances to their first-ever women's basketball championship game Tuesday at 6 p.m. against the winner of top-seeded Union University (Tenn.) and The Master's College (Calif.). The game will be televised live nationally on CSTV.