Story by Nikki Sherrill, NAIA Media Coordinator

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – (Box Score) A chance for a repeat is still intact for the No. 1 seeded Marian (Ind.) Knights as they have knocked off the No. 1 overall seed St. Francis (Ill.) in the semifinals of the 2017 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship. The Knights earned a 64-56 win and will advance to the national championship title for the second-time in two years. Last season, Marian defeated the lone remaining No. 1 Southern Oregon to earn the program’s first-ever red banner.

The Knights are now back in familiar territory as they prepare for their second title contest in a row. Marian will face either No. 1 Concordia (Neb.) (34-2) or No. 1 Saint Xavier (Ill.) (33-2) on Tuesday night at 7:04 p.m. That game will be broadcast on ESPN3. With the loss, the Fighting Saints drop to 34-2 on the season and are now 3-2 all-time at the national championship in just their second appearance.

“That’s what you want to do. You want to be one of the last two teams standing and not every year you get that opportunity,” said Marian head coach Katie Gearlds. “Being in this opportunity and having a chance, win or lose tomorrow, says a lot about the maturity of our team. I’m just proud of them for trusting the system.”

St. Francis took control of the game early on as they ended the opening quarter holding a 14-8 point lead over the Knights. The Fighting Saints dominated on defense as six of those points came from forced turnovers. From the field in the first quarter, St. Francis bettered the Knights in both field goal percentage (40 percent) and from beyond the arc as they shut down Marian from long range but connected on 33 percent.

Marian shook off the jitters of returning to the national semifinals in the second quarter and out-scored St. Francis behind 44 percent shooting and going 75 percent from the charity stripe. After a more focused second quarter, the Knights earned controlled a 27-25 halftime lead heading into the locker room after a slow start. Adjustments were made from coach Gearlds as the teams regained its composure and went back to their game.

“I would be lying if I said I didn’t get nervous when we fall behind,” said Gearlds. “My job is to keep my cool. This team usually rolls of off my demeanor and I trust them so much. They punched us in the mouth and we were not ready for it. After the end of the first quarter they trusted me and the adjustments that we could make.”

The third quarter showed a balanced matchup as both teams remained close with neither jumping out too far ahead. However, the fourth quarter boosted Marian forward after earning free points from the charity stripe due to the 23 fouls St. Francis committed. On the night, the Knights went for 78 percent from the free-throw line which helped earn the eight-point lead.

“We did not have a good shooting night,” said junior Joana Soerio. “I’m grateful I have great players who can get to the basket. The refs were allowing a lot of contact and as soon as we got to the free-throw line we knew we just had to keep doing that. We couldn’t get it done from the field so we got it done from there.”

Soeiro and Jessica Almeida led the charge for the Knights as Almeida netted 22 points while going 6-of-10 from the field. Soeiro cashed in on 15 points and six rebounds for Marian to help them stay ahead. Collectively, Marian was good for 20-of-49 on shooting – good for 40.8 percent. From the free-throw line, the Knights netted 22-of-28.

St. Francis, which was playing in its first-ever national semifinal, was led by Charnelle Reed who has averaged 18 points per game this national championship. In the national semifinal, the Knights limited Reed to only 16 points with only eight total in three quarters combined. The limiting of Reed played a large role in the victory for Marian which advances them into the title game.

“Reed is an All-American for a reason,” said Gearlds. “We just wanted to make her work. If we make her take more shots than points scored, we are doing our job. Credit to our kids this game; they made some big time plays.”