All three Iowa Conference basketball squads involved in NCAA Division III First Round games Friday picked up victories to continue their seasons.
Luther 68, Concordia (Wis). 61 (Box Score)
MEQUON, Wis. --- The Luther College men's basketball team advanced to the second round of the NCAA III Men's Basketball Tournament after defeating #24 Concordia University 68-61 this evening here on Concordia's home court. The Falcons entered the game averaging 81.6 points a game and were held to 39 percent by the Norse defense.
In the first half, the Norse held a 30-29 lead. Neither team shot exceptionally well as the Norse held the Falcons to 39.3 percent, while connecting on 37.9 percent on their end of the floor. Luther controlled the boards 21-16 and was 7-of-11 from the charity stripe.
After taking a 30-29 lead into the halftime locker room, the Norse extended that lead to seven (43-36) eight minutes into the second frame. The Falcons fought back and took a 52-49 lead with 7:00 remaining. Luther responded with 19-9 run the rest of the way en route to the victory. During this stretch, Rick Aleman gave the Norse the lead for good with a three-point bucket at 1:27 that broke a 57-57 tie.
Tyler Wedemeier posted a double-double with a game and career high 19 points and 10 rebounds. John Androus tallied 14 points and Tim Merritt chipped in 10.
The Norse dominated the boards out rebounding the Falcons 47-29. Luther also outscored the Falcons 34-26 in the paint.
Coe 78, Minnesota-Morris 53 (Box Score)
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa --- A tough Kohawk defense kept one of the nation's most powerful offenses in check Friday night, as Coe beat the University of Minnesota-Morris 78-53 in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Coe will face Howard Payne Saturday for a berth in the Sweet 16.
In their last outing, the Kohawks opened the game 1-of-14 from the field. That changed tonight, as Coe hit its first four shot attempts. Senior Devvin Rolston scored the first bucket of the game, but Minnesota-Morris answered with a 3-pointer by Steph Roggenbuck. The Kohawks then fired off seven-straight points in just 1:12, taking a 9-3 lead and never looked back.
Coe held a 15-9 lead with 12:25 left in the first half when senior Kaitlin Breitbach hit a layup, igniting a 20-0 Kohawk run over the next 5:11. At two separate times, seniors Kayla Lincoln and Sarah Anciaux hit back-to-back trey's during the run.
The Kohawk lead was up to 26 points with 6:57 left in the first half, but the Cougars went on a 9-0 run in 2:02 attempting to get back in the game. Coe held out in the first half, as they took a 40-24 lead into the locker rooms at halftime. The Kohawks shot 56.7 percent in the first half, while holding the Cougars to 25 percent.
Minnesota-Morris cut Coe's lead to 10 with 14:58 to play, as Emily Mehr scored seven-straight points for the Cougars. Coe put the game away at that point. An 18-3 run over the next 7:06 sealed the Kohawks first NCAA Tournament win in school history. Neither team scored in the final 2:13, while the Cougars were held without a field goal in the last 3:48.
Anciaux had a team-high 15 points and seven rebounds. She also added three assists and two blocked shots, while moving into fifth on the school's all-time 3-pointers list two on the night. Senior Devvin Rolston joined Anciaux in double-figures with 14 points, while junior Leslie Ware added 12 points and four assists. With a pair of 3-pointers on the night, Ware joined Lincoln as two of three players in school history with back-to-back seasons making 50 or more treys.
Junior Kayla Waskow added nine points, four assists and tied a career-high with three blocked shots. She became the 17th player in school history to surpass 800 career points in the game. Lincoln tallied eight points and two blocked shots in the win.
The Cougars entered the game with the 21st highest scoring offense in the country at 73.8 points per game, while they ranked second in field goal percentage at 47.0 percent. Coe held them 53 points, their third lowest total of the season. They shot just 30.5 percent from the field. Minnesota-Morris was also second in the nation in assists per game at 19.5, but were held to just eight against the Kohawks.
Minnesota-Morris was led by Emily Mehr's game-high 21 points, while Steph Roggenbuck added 15. Roggenbuck entered the game with the 24th highest field goal percentage in the country (53.7), but was held to just 5-of-15 shooting on the night. The Cougars' Brandi Cresap led the nation in assists-to-turnover ratio at 7.73, but was held without an assist and had two turnovers.
The win improved Coe to 25-3 overall, the most wins by any basketball team in Coe history. The 1972-73 men's team previously held the record at 24-1. A spot in the Sweet 16 is on the line Saturday night at Eby Fieldhouse, as the Kohawks will host Howard Payne. The two teams met earlier this season, with Coe winning 61-50 on a neutral court. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Simpson 59, Concordia-Moorhead 56 (Box Score)
STEVENS POINT, Wis. --- Simpson looks like a team that has been here before.
Stacey Schutjer finished with 16 points and 20 rebounds, Mindy Hutchcroft hit a pair of clutch free throws and Simpson held on for a 59-56 win over Concordia-Moorhead in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship on Friday at Berg Gymnasium.
Making a seventh-straight trip to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship, Simpson built a big lead, lost it, then made plays down the stretch to advance to the second round.
With Simpson leading 57-56 and less than 30 seconds left in the game, Concordia's Brittany Jossart came up short on a layup attempt and Kate Nielsen brought down the rebound. Nielsen missed the front end of the 1-and-1 but Hutchcroft grabbed the offensive board with 14 seconds left.
Hutchcroft was fouled, hit both free throws and Concordia missed two 3-point attempts which would have tied the game in the final possession.
Schutjer's performance gives her 1,000 career points and improves her rebound total to 508, becoming the fifth player in program history to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
The Storm (22-6) advance to the second round where they will face host school UW-Stevens Point (26-2) on Saturday at 7 p.m. UW-Stevens Point beat St. Norbert 79-69 in Friday's late game. The Pointers beat Simpson earlier this year, 78-60.
Jamie Elbert scored 13 points off the bench, Hutchcroft added 10 and Darrina Bledsoe had five assists and six steals.
Jossart and Tricia Sorensen scored 14 apiece for the Cobbers (21-7). Alexandra Lippert posted a 10-point, 14-rebound double-double and Sorensen added nine boards.
After two free throws from Jossart tied the game at 20 with 4:33 left in the first half, Elbert led Simpson on a 12-0 run to end the half. She went 4-for-4 from the line and her layup as time expired gave Simpson a 32-20 lead at the break.
An Elbert layup gave Simpson a 14-point lead with 11:19 left in the game, but Concordia responded with a 24-10 run over the next 9 minutes. Erica Nord's free throw with 1:16 left tied the game at 55 before a layup by Schutjer gave the Storm a two-point edge.
The 6-foot-4 Lippert had five blocks for the Cobbers, but got into foul trouble early in the second half.
