March 19, 2007

JACKSON, Tenn. - Cumberland University (Tenn.) and Lambuth University (Tenn.) each pulled off dramatic upsets of the two remaining No. 1 seeds to set up a meeting in the championship game of the 27th Annual NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championship at Oman Arena.

It is the first NAIA title game since 1988 in which neither participant has ever played in the national finals, and it marks the first time two teams from the state of Tennessee have ever played for an NAIA women's basketball championship. Cumberland's four-point win over Vanguard University (Calif.), followed by Lambuth's two-point victory over two-time defending NAIA champion Union (Tenn.), was the closest combined margin of victory for a pair of semifinal games since 1993, when Arkansas Tech and Union met in the title game after semifinal wins by a combined three points.

Tuesday's championship will be the first time a No. 1 or No. 2 seed will not play for the title since the implementation of bracketed quarters for the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championship bracket in 2003.

In the first semifinal, Cumberland (Tenn.) advanced to the first title game in program history with a 68-64 win over previously-unbeaten Vanguard (Calif.). 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. Williams hit the eventual game-winner, knocking 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 the title game.

Kiana Robinson scored 20 points, while Williams added 15 points, with each hitting five three-pointers for Cumberland, which 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).

Lambuth University (Tenn.) evened its season series with Union University (Tenn.) with its second two-point victory over its cross-town TranSouth Athletic Conference rival in the past month, a 66-64 semifinal win that sets up the historic title game with Cumberland. The game's final three and a half minutes featured five lead changes, the last when Dee Preyer's long fadeaway from the left wing well behind the three-point line fell through with 2.4 seconds left to give Lambuth a 65-64 lead. Union attempted a long outlet pass into the frontcourt, but it sailed out of bounds, and Union was forced to foul Tara Robinson on the inbounds play, leaving 1.6 seconds in the game. Robinson sank the first free throw, and the second rattled around the rim before dropping into the hands of Union's D.J. Sissoko, who turned and fired a pass to Kaitlin Dudley at midcourt. However, the final horn blew before Dudley could plant and launch a desperation three, sending Lambuth into the title game.

Reggie Maddox finished with team-highs of 18 points and eight rebounds, including a pair of three-pointers in the final four minutes of the game, while Preyer tallied 17 points, including a trio of three-pointers. Natanya Smith made nine-of-10 from the field for a game-high 20 points, and she notched the double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds to lead Union. Dudley was three-of-four from three-point range and finished with 15 points.