Story provided by Jake Knabel, NAIA Assistant Media Coordinator

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – (Box Score) This was the Kirsten Miller game. The junior guard from Ottawa, Ohio, rattled off 34 points and led fifth-seeded IU East (Ind.) back from a late six-point fourth-quarter deficit. Behind Miller, the Red Wolves claimed their first-ever national championships victory, defeating Purdue Northwest (Ind.), 85-80, in an instate battle inside the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, on Thursday afternoon.

Making just its second appearance all-time at the national tournament, head coach Tiffani Selhorst’s squad dances on to the national championships second round, where it will defending national champion Marian (Ind.) (31-3) at 5:15 p.m. on Friday. Purdue Northwest will go back home with a record of 24-9.

Miller made the big stage her own on Thursday. She put the team on her back with IU East trailing 75-69 with under four minutes left in the game. Miller bombed away with a trey at the 3:58 mark and then another with 3:02 remaining to edge the Red Wolves in front, 77-75. She later poured in another bucket and then helped seal the game with two free throws in the final seconds. 

Miller went 12-for-19 from the floor, 5-for-11 from 3-point range and 5-for-5 from the foul line. But she didn’t do it alone. Tia King went for 23 points on 9-for-22 shooting. The work of the dynamic duo was crucial on a day when the rest of the team went a combined 11-for-38 from the field. IU East shot 40.5 percent (32-for-79) as a team. 

On the other side, guard Darien Thompson dropped 29 points (10-for-25 from the field). It was an off game for Pride standout sophomore Cassidy Deno, who went 3-for-14 from the floor and committed nine of the team’s 27 turnovers. A member of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, Purdue Northwest is now 2-5 in five all-time national championships appearances.

IU East made its first trip to nationals in 2016. The Red Wolves were ousted in the first round, 110-99, by Olivet Nazarene (Ill.), one of last year’s No. 1 seeds.