March 9, 2007

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - No. 2 seed MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) hung on for an 81-78 victory over Ottawa University (Kan.) to advance to the quarterfinals of the 16^th annual NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa.

Ottawa (24-9) held the early advantage, jumping out to a 12-4 just three minutes into the contest. The Lady Braves played in front for the majority of the first half, but MidAmerica Nazarene (32-3) closed out the opening frame on a 20-7 run to break free from a 34-34 tie. The Lady Pioneers led by 13 at the break.

The MidAmerica lead ballooned to 17 points (67-50), but Ottawa started to chip away at the lead around with just over six minutes left. A triple by Amanda Stichler cut the MidAmerica advantage to single digits, 74-67. Stichler scored seven of the Lady Braves' final nine points, all in the final two minutes, including shot with 32 seconds to pull Ottawa within a bucket.

Jenna Matson hit a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to preserve the MidAmerica win. Matson scored 17 of her game high 30 points in the first half, going 7-of-9 from the field. She also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds for the double double. She was one of four players in double digits for the Lady Pioneers. Others included Ashley Patterson (14), Aubrey Clair (12) and JoNel Henning (10).

Ottawa was paced by Amanda Stichler with 26 points. Brittany Broyles hit four threes in the game and finished with 18 points. Krystal White and Hallie Boyce added 12 and 11 points respectively.

MidAmerica will play in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. against the winner of Saint Francis and Mount Marty.  

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