Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Press ReleaseJACKSON, Tenn. - The Westminster women's basketball team used a strong second half performance to defeat Loyola (La.) 62-47 to advance to the second round of the NAIA National Championships. After leading by just two at the intermission, Westminster dominated the second stanza 36-23 to make the second round for the second time in three trips to the event.
Westminster scored the first four points of the game before allowing an 11-0 run by Loyola. Both teams struggled from the field in the first 20 minutes and the turnovers were piling up. When Shannon Evans hit a 15-footer to end the half, the Griffins had finally retaken the lead.
"I thought we were really nervous offensively in the first half," head coach JD Gustin said. "We calmed down in the second half and Shannon (Evans) got us into some good situations."
Evans took over during the first seven minutes of the second and finished the game with a team-high 18 points and seven rebounds. She hit two from beyond the arc and dished our five assists in the contest. No other Griffin reached double figures in the victory.
Westminster used their pressure defense to force Loyola into 23 turnovers. Those opportunities turned into 21 Westminster points. The Griffins also controlled the boards to a 41-33 advantage, with 14 coming on the offensive end. Those 14 offensive rebounds turned into eight points, but more importantly kept Loyola from gaining possession. Westminster also had a 28-20 advantage in points in the paint.
"This was our best collective defensive effort of the season," Gustin commented. "Those are two really, really good players and we did a good job on them as a group."
Michelle Pace contributed nine points while Keshia Catten and Alexis Tucker went for eight apiece. Tucker also had sox rebounds as did McKenzie Jessop off the Bench. Elisa Leader was held to just six points.
Trenese Smith led Loyola with 24 points and was 10-of-10 at the charity stripe. Rachael Nolan added eight points and Garkeiva Council had seven points and nine rebounds.
Westminster will now face Vanguard, the defending national champion. That game will tipoff at 9:45 a.m. (MST) on Friday, March 20 from Oman Arena in Jackson, Tennessee. Westminster is 2-1 all-time against the Lions. "We are excited to play the defending champions," stated Gustin. "We know we are going to get some shots and think if we knock them down we have a chance."
(Courtesy Westminster College)
