March 20, 2008

JACKSON, Tenn. - Third-seeded Lambuth (Tenn.) University opened its bid to defend its national crown with a 73-56 victory over sixth-seeded Xavier University of Louisiana in the first round of the 28^th Annual NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship.

 

Lambuth jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first 75 seconds, part of a 25-8 run to start the game, and the Eagles maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game. Lambuth finished the opening half with a 9-1 run for a 42-21 halftime advantage, and 18 seconds into the second half, junior guard Yolanda Johnson hit a three-pointer that gave the Eagles their largest lead of the game at 45-21. Xavier twice got to within 13 points, the last time at 58-45 with 8:37 remaining, but Johnson capped a 7-0 run with a three-point play to push the lead back to 20 points with 7:40 to play.

 

Johnson scored a game-high 19 points, and senior guard Dee Preyer scored 13 of her 15 points in the first half to help Lambuth get out to the early lead. Junior guard C.T. Kintchen added 10 points and a game-high six assists to go with her team-high three steals. Lambuth made 13-of-22 (59 percent) from the field in the opening half while limiting Xavier to a seven-for-34 (21 percent) effort before halftime.

 

Xavier was led by senior guard Jarryn Cleaves, who tallied a team-high 14 points but was held to a four-for-17 effort from the field, including one-of-11 from three-point range. Cleaves also registered game-highs of eight rebounds and four steals for the Gold Nuggets, who finish the season with an overall record of 27-7. Freshman center Johnna Williams chipped in for 11 points and five rebounds off the bench, and freshman guard Shayla Boyd also finished in double figures with 10 points.

 

Lambuth owns the NAIA's longest current national tournament winning streak with wins in six consecutive and seven of its last eight national tournament contests. Lambuth, now 24-9 on the season, advances to a second-round matchup with Vanguard on Friday at 4:30 p.m.