CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa --- The Coe College women continued their run toward the 2011 NCAA Division III Basketball Championship with a 79-56 win over Howard Payne University, but the Simpson College women and Luther College men saw their seasons draw to a close Saturday with losses to squads from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Women: Coe 79, Howard Payne 56 (box score)
At Eby Fieldhouse in Cedar Rapids, the Kohawk women's basketball team's dream season will remain alive for another week, as Coe rallied to beat Howard Payne 79-56 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16.
Playing in only its second NCAA Tournament game in school history, the Kohawks got down early, but were never counted out. Howard Payne's Brittany Roberson scored the Yellow Jackets first nine points, as they opened a 9-3 lead on Coe in the first 2:03 of the game. The Kohawks fought back for their first lead with a 12-5 run in the next 3:23, as senior Kayla Lincoln scored seven points during the stretch, giving Coe a 15-14 lead with 13:41 to play in the opening half.
The Yellow Jackets then opened up their largest lead of the game with a 16-3 run in the next 5:09. With Howard Payne leading 30-18 with 8:12 left in the first half, the Kohawks took over. Juniors Leslie Ware and Kayla Waskow hit back-to-back treys, igniting a 19-5 Coe run to end the final 7:33 of the first half, as Coe took a 37-35 lead into the locker room on a late jumper by Waskow.
Howard Payne made it a game early in the second half, as they opened the first 4:30 of the final period on a 9-5 run. With 14:21 to play, Waskow hit a jumper to tie the game for the fifth time of the night. It wouldn't be tied for long, as the Kohawks rolled on a 22-2 run over 8:48 to put the game away. The Yellow Jackets got a 3-pointer from Clarissa Krum and a layup from Megan Norvil to cut Coe's lead to 13 with 4:33 to play, but the Kohawk seniors took over.
In the last 3:52, Coe outscored the Yellow Jackets 15-5, with 12 of those points coming from senior Sarah Anciaux and Lincoln, before freshman Maggie Schneidermann scored her first points as a Kohawk with a 3-pointer with :31 left, the final points of the game.
Lincoln led the Kohawks with 21 points, six rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals. She became the fourth player in school history to surpass 1,110 career points, while moving to third with 418 career field goals. She also broke Coe's single-season blocks record with 51, while becoming the 11th player with over 500 career rebounds. She also moved to fifth on the single-season scoring list with 363 points.
Waskow added 15 points, while Anciaux and freshman Mary Halvorson dropped in 10 points apiece. Anciaux moved into second on the career scoring list with 1,140 points, while moving to fourth with 413 career field goals. She also moved to fourth in career rebounds with 583. Anciaux and Halvorson both had seven rebounds in the win.
Seniors Devvin Rolston and Kaitlin Breitbach had six rebounds apiece, as did Waskow. Breitbach also had six assists, as she moved into fourth with 126 assists this season. Ware and Waskow had three assists apiece.
As a team, the Kohawks shot 35 percent in the first half, while the Yellow Jackets shot 43.3. That changed in the second, as Coe shot 50 percent from the field, while holding Howard Payne to 33.3 percent shooting. The Kohawks dominated on the boards, out rebounding the Yellow Jackets 49-31, including 18 offensive rebounds. Coe had a 32-18 advantage in the paint, 19-4 in second chance points and got 34 points from the bench.
The Yellow Jackets were led by 17 points from Roberson, while Krum had 14.
Coe will advance to the sectional round for the first time in school history. They will face seventh-ranked Illinois Wesleyan Friday, March 11 at a site and time to be announced.
Women: Wis.-Stevens Point 82, Simpson 75 (box score)
At Stevens Point, Wis., Ashley Averkamp led six players in double figures and No. 3 UW-Stevens Point beat Simpson 82-75 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship on Saturday night at Berg Gymnasium.
Andrea Flease, Britta Petersen and Christin Coles all scored 12 for the Pointers (27-2), who advance to the sectional semifinal to face George Fox. Flease added eight assists.
After a slow first half, Stacey Schutjer scored a team-high 22 points for the Storm (22-7), who saw their seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament come to a close. Ali Sokol finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, her first double-double of the season.
Holding on to a slim 52-50 lead with a little over 13 minutes remaining, a jumper by Sam Barber sparked a 10-0 Pointer run which resulted in a 62-50 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
Stevens Point led by as much as 13 in the final 4 minutes before Schutjer found her rythm. Held to four points and sent to the bench with foul trouble in the first half, the two-time First Team All-Iowa Conference selection scored 12 of her 18 second-half points in the final 3 minutes.
A pair of free throws from Averkamp gave UWSP a 76-65 lead before back-to-back buckets by Schutjer cut the lead to seven with 50 seconds left. Trailing by eight with 20 seconds left, Schutjer hit two free throws to make the score 79-73.
After a quick foul, Cassie Bandow missed two free throws and Sokol secured the board with 18 seconds left. But Josi Schultz snuck up from behind Sokol and came away with a steal, all but ending Simpson's comeback hopes.
Simpson stayed in the game early thanks to stellar shooting from beyond the arc. The Storm made 8 of 16 3-pointers in the first half, getting three from Sokol and two each from Mindy Hutchcroft and Jamie Elbert. Sokol scored all 13 of her points in the first 20 minutes.
Saturday marked the second meeting between the two teams this season, which was a much tighter contest than the first. Stevens Point beat Simpson 78-60 on Nov. 26 at the Buena Vista Classic in Storm Lake.
Men: Wis.-Stevens Point 76, Luther 56 (box score)
At Mequon, Wis., the Luther College men's basketball team's season came to end tonight in the second round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. Luther faced defending national champions No. 3 UW-Stevens Point and was defeated by a score of 76-56.
The Pointers, who posted their 14th straight victory, held the Norse to 38.3 percent shooting for the evening. On the other end of the floor, the Pointers shot 49.1 percent, that included a 8-of-14 effort from behind the three-point line. The Pointers also connected on 16-of-18 free throws.
Dane Larson, who was named Iowa Conference MVP earlier this week, paced the Norse with 17 points, 15 of which came in the second frame. Tyler Wedemeier also tallied double digits with 13.
