SIOUX CITY, Iowa – For the first 15 minutes, the Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team shot better than 70 percent against Davenport University in the second round of the 2016 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Championship Friday at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
Despite a second consecutive 8:30 a.m. start time, No. 3 seed DWU tore the nets all game en route to an 87-77 win over the No. 2 seed Panthers to move on to the national quarterfinals. DWU is now 27-8 this season, the most wins for the program since 2003-04.
The Tigers electrified the crowd, which was heavily skewed towards DWU, early in the game, making 10-of-16 first-quarter shots, including four 3-pointers. Sophomore forward Amber Bray (Anoka, Minn.) and junior forward Kristin Sabers each scored eight in the opening frame, as DWU led by six after one. The Tigers pushed their lead to double digits, but the Panthers did not go away, closing the gap to eight at the break.
Davenport never got closer than six points the rest of the way as DWU built a lead as large as 24. A late Panther rally ran out of gas in the end, as DWU celebrated the win.
Five Tigers scored in double figures, led by Amber Bray with 21. Bray was 7-of-12 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, while pulling down eight rebounds. Bray and the rest of the DWU starters combined to shoot 23-of-38 from the field.
Sabers inched her way closer to 1,000 points in her career with 14 on 6-of-12 shooting off the bench. The Mitchell, S.D., native, heads into the next game needing just three points to hit the career milestone.
Junior forward Erica Herrold (Dimock, S.D.) posted a second consecutive strong performance with 17 points, while freshman guard Kelsey Bertram (Winner, S.D.) added a career-high 12 points. Bertram chipped in with six rebounds, three assists and three steals in the win.
Freshman guard Rylie Osthus (De Smet, S.D.) continued to play beyond her experience. Despite early foul trouble, Osthus scored 10 points, while adding six rebounds and grabbing three steals.
The Tigers shot 31-of-55 from the field, 8-of-18 from deep and 17-of-23 from the line, while combining for 20 assists and 16 turnovers.
Davenport's Alex Law scored a team-high 21 points, but shot just 8-of-22 from the field, while Shaina Johnson added 14 points off the bench. Davenport shot 31-of-69 from the field, 8-of-23 from deep and 7-of-11 from the line, while edging DWU in the rebounding battle, 34-33.
DWU will take on No. 5 seed Goshen College (Ind.) in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Tyson Events Center. Goshen reached the game by knocking off No. 1 seed St. Xavier (Ill.) in a second round matchup Thursday.
