No. 1 Westminster (Utah) Bests No. 4 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), 65-56
Mar 22, 2014
FRANKFORT, Ky. — (Box Score) No. 1 Westminster (Utah) advanced to its third national quarterfinals appearance in four seasons with a 65-56 win over four-seed Mid-America Nazarene (Kan.) in the NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Championships on Friday.
The Griffins (26-2) will meet three-seed Wiley (Texas) in the third quarterfinal game Saturday at 6 p.m. EDT in the Frankfort Convention Center. Wiley (29-4) advanced to its first-ever national quarterfinal earlier in the day with an 81-70 win over Shawnee State University.
Westminster opened the game with a 7-0 lead, but MidAmerica Nazarene jumped right back into it, scoring nine-straight to take the lead on a 3 by Megan Balcom. The two were knotted at 13 before Alli Winters hit a 3 to spark a 10-0 and give Westminster its first double-digit lead, 23-13, with 2:38 left in the opening half.
Mid-America Nazarene scored eight of the next 10 points of the game, including a first-half buzzer-beater by Brooke Rinehart to cut Westminster’s lead to four, 25-21, at halftime.
The MNU Pioneers kept the Griffins close in the opening minutes of the second half, cutting the difference to two points, 27-25, on a basket by Daria Sprew. Westminster used another run, 13-3, to pull back ahead by double-digits and never let up, despite MNU pulling back to within nine points three times.
Four of Westminster’s starters scored in double figures, led by Tia Pappas’ 17 points. Alli Blake had 13, and Shelby Ellsworth and Kelsi Wells each scored 12. Ellsworth and Pappas had nine and eight rebounds, respectively.
Balcom led MNU with 12 points and Rachel Boan had 10.
MidAmerica Nazarene University ends its season with a 28-4 record. The Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament champion recorded its first win in the NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Championships with a 97-64 win over Hope International University (Calif.) on Thursday. It was MNU’s first win in three appearances and the first 90-point performance by a team in this year’s tournament, which has six 90-point performances thus far.
The Griffins (26-2) will meet three-seed Wiley (Texas) in the third quarterfinal game Saturday at 6 p.m. EDT in the Frankfort Convention Center. Wiley (29-4) advanced to its first-ever national quarterfinal earlier in the day with an 81-70 win over Shawnee State University.
Westminster opened the game with a 7-0 lead, but MidAmerica Nazarene jumped right back into it, scoring nine-straight to take the lead on a 3 by Megan Balcom. The two were knotted at 13 before Alli Winters hit a 3 to spark a 10-0 and give Westminster its first double-digit lead, 23-13, with 2:38 left in the opening half.
Mid-America Nazarene scored eight of the next 10 points of the game, including a first-half buzzer-beater by Brooke Rinehart to cut Westminster’s lead to four, 25-21, at halftime.
The MNU Pioneers kept the Griffins close in the opening minutes of the second half, cutting the difference to two points, 27-25, on a basket by Daria Sprew. Westminster used another run, 13-3, to pull back ahead by double-digits and never let up, despite MNU pulling back to within nine points three times.
Four of Westminster’s starters scored in double figures, led by Tia Pappas’ 17 points. Alli Blake had 13, and Shelby Ellsworth and Kelsi Wells each scored 12. Ellsworth and Pappas had nine and eight rebounds, respectively.
Balcom led MNU with 12 points and Rachel Boan had 10.
MidAmerica Nazarene University ends its season with a 28-4 record. The Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament champion recorded its first win in the NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Championships with a 97-64 win over Hope International University (Calif.) on Thursday. It was MNU’s first win in three appearances and the first 90-point performance by a team in this year’s tournament, which has six 90-point performances thus far.
