Northeastern State advanced to NCAA Division II South Central
Regional championship game with an impressive 56-51 victory over
Washburn in the regional semifinals Saturday.
West Texas A&M fell to Emporia State, 76-69, in the other
semifinal in Canyon, Texas.
Northeastern State 76, Washburn 69
Northeastern State advanced to NCAA Division II South Central
Regional championship game with an impressive 56-51 victory over
Washburn in the semifinals.
The RiverHawks will take a 28-6 record into Monday night’s
championship game against Emporia State (26-5) at 7 p.m. It will be
Northeastern State’s second trip to the Sweet 16, the last
time coming in 2004. The winner will advance to the NCAA
Elite Eight in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Northeastern State rallied from a 12-point deficit to overtake
the 7th-ranked and No. 2 seed Lady Blues late in
the first half. The RiverHawks have now won 18 of their last
20 games and snapped Washburn’s 16-game winning streak.
Freshman Taylor Lewis led 11 RiverHawks in scoring with 13
points followed by senior Jessica White’s 7 points. Megan
Fraley, Jasmine Webb, Sarah Millar and Kendra Dean all scored 6
points as the RiverHawks shot 40 percent (19-of-47) from the field.
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Emporia State 76, West Texas A&M 69
No. 15 Emporia State topped No. 9 West Texas A&M, 76-69, in
the semifinals of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional.
The Lady Buffs finish a memorable season with an overall record
of 30-4, for the first 30-win season since 1990-91.
There were five ties and five lead changes in
the first 12:22 of the game before Jocelyn Cummings gave ESU the
lead for good with a pair of free throws at the 7:38 mark.
Cassondra Boston scored the final five points of the half on a
layup and three free throws to give the Lady Hornets a 35-27 lead
at the break.
ESU would extend their run to 9-0 by scoring the
first four points of the second half to gain a 12 point advantage
at 39-27 with 16:10 left in the game. The Lady Hornets would lead
by as many as 13 on two occasions before the Lady Buffs made their
final push.
Jamie Simmons finished the game with a double-double of 30
points and 12 boards, followed by Joni Unruh with 15 points. The
Lady Buffs finished with a 46.7 percent shooting clip to the
Hornets 50.0 percent shooting.
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