March 13, 2006

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - College of the Ozarks (Mo.) came from behind to defeat the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) 67-65 to advance to the championship game of the 15^th annual NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship. The 2006 event is being held at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa.

 

The Lady Cougars of Saint Francis took a six-point advantage into the locker room at halftime, 37-31. Saint Francis built their lead at the free-throw line, where they converted on 9 of 11 attempts in the first half. Ozarks on the other hand didn't attempt a shot from the stripe in the opening half.

 

Ozarks struggled from the field to start the second half, going 0 for 10 from the field. In fact the Lady Bobcats didn't score their first field goal until the 13:45 mark of the second period. Ozarks was able to pull within six with 11:28 remaining, but Saint Francis answered a free throw and a bucket by Chivonn Keppeler.

 

In the final 4:35 the game featured five ties and six lead changes. Ozarks took the lead for good on a long-range field goal by Cara Painter with 89 tics left on the clock. But Saint Francis wouldn't go easily cutting the lead to a deuce on a pair of free throws by Tara Dice.

 

The Bobcats left the door open for late game heroics by Saint Francis when  Janessa DeMuth missed two free throws with five seconds left. The Cougars grabbed the rebound immediately called timeout to set up the final play of the game.

 

With the length of the court to go Dice dribbled up the left side a launched a shot from 22 feet only to see it blocked by Painter. Painter, who led all scorers with 26 points, was the leading shot blocker in NAIA Division II in blocks this season. She swatted four shots in the game to go along with nine rebounds and five three-point field goals. Megan Curry also reached double figures for the Bobcats with 20 points, going 7 of 8 from the line.

 

For Saint Francis Keppeler led a trio of players in double figures with 18 points. Cassie Reeder and Megan Dossen chipped in with 16 and 13 points respectively. The Cougars finish their season with a record of 28-8 and set a tournament record for most all time victories with 20.

 

This will be the second trip to the finals for Ozarks who lost in the title game in 1999. They will take on the winner of Monday's other semifinal, Hastings College (Neb.) who cruised to a 63-50 win over Northwestern (Iowa). The 32-team, single elimination tournament concludes Tuesday, March 14.

 

For more information on the Division II Women's Basketball National Championship log on to www.naia.org.

 

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