The Ursuline College basketball team advanced to the G-MAC Championship game for the first time in program history with an 88-52 win over Trevecca Nazarene on Friday evening in the Seidman Gymnasium.
Ursuline and Trevecca Nazarene traded baskets in the early going of the game before redshirt sophomore and G-MAC Player of the Year
Laney Lewis broke a 6-6 tie with a three-pointer at the 4:17 mark of the first quarter. G-MAC Freshman of the Year
Brigan Wymer added a three-pointer as did freshman
Christiana Jefferson to spark a 7-3 run to help the Arrows build a 16-8 advantage with 2:15 remaining in the first.
The Arrows offense once again struck from deep early in the second quarter when freshman
Natalie Koenig buried a three-pointer to make it 25-10. After a Trevveca three-pointer from Briana McDonald cut the lead to 25-14, Koenig answered with another three-pointer to put hte Arrows back up 14 at 28-14 with 8:17 to play in the half. Jefferson added a jumper to extend the lead to 32-16 and Koenig pushed the lead to 18 with a layup to make it 37-19. The Ursuline lead reached 20 at 47-27 with under a minute to play in the first half before Sarah Raby beat the first half buzzer with a three-pointer to make it 47-30 at the break.
Ursuline turned up the defensive effort in the third quarter as Jefferson finished a layup with a foul to make it 62-36 with just under five minutes to play. The Arrows defense held Trevecca to just nine points in the third quarter while putting up 24 points on the offensive end. The Arrows built 71-39 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Ursuline shot 41 percent (30-for-73) in the game while hitting 13-for-33 from behind the three point line while Trevecca shot 30 percent (18-for-60) and went 5-for-20 from three point territory. The Arrows were 15-for-18 from the free throw line and out rebounded the Trojans 47-37 and only committing 11 turnovers while forocing 17. Ursuline had seven blocked shots and also had 24 assists on 30 made field goals.
The Arrows were led by Koenig's career-high 29 point performance on 9-for-15 shooting from the field including 5-for-9 from three. Wymer finished with 16 points and sophomore
Camryn Hill added 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds on 6-for-12 from the field. Jefferson finished with eight points and dished out seven assists.
Ursuline will now take on Cedarville on Saturday afternoon for the Great Midwest Athletic Championship at 4:00 PM. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tournament which begins next weekend. For complete tournament coverage including live stats and video of the championship game visit www.g-macsports.com.
