UNK Could Still Host the NCAA Central Regional Next Weekend
Kearney, Neb. - Sophomore guard Lacy Stokes had 28 points and seven rebounds to help No. 27 Missouri Southern State beat No. 7 Nebraska Kearney, 63-51, in the MIAA Tournament semifinals Saturday night in Kansas City. The Lopers (28-4) see a 15-game win streak end, but all is not lost as UNK could still host the NCAA Central Regional next weekend (March 10-13) at the Health & Sports Center. The 64-team NCAA Tournament field will be announced Sunday at 9:30 p.m. at www.ncaa.com with the eight number one seeds announced a bit earlier on Division II Twitter (@NCAADII). "I have no idea where the numbers are at but just speaking about my team, we've had a phenomenal season. If I were to be stating my case for why we should be up there in the region if not hosting it, we've played so many high-level games," said UNK head coach Carrie Eighmey. "This is our 14th game against top-tier teams in the country and we've won 10 of them. Our strength of schedule is second best or maybe the best in the region after tonight. We fought our way through that and won a regular season title." Minnesota-Duluth (27-3), regular season and tourney champions of the NSIC, was ranked second in the region this week. They lost to MSSU, 54-51, in K.C. back in November. The 2022 MIAA Freshman and Player of the Year, Stokes reached her game-high point total by making 10 of 20 (2 of 4 threes) shots. The rest of the Lions (26-6) went 12 of 35. Stokes assisted on three of those baskets with all seven of her caroms coming on the defensive end. Finally, the lefty had three steals and drew eight fouls. In two last second wins over MSSU this year, UNK had limited Stokes to a 7 of 28 effort from the field. "Missouri Southern played well tonight. They are a good team and from the tip they disrupted our offense a little bit. They pressured us quite a bit and while we didn't turn it over too many times (nine), I felt like we were out of rhythm and out of sync," said Eighmey. UNK missed its first nine shots and ended the night missing its last eight threes. The Lopers shot a season-low 33.3% (19 of 61) from the field. Earlier this year in Municipal Auditorium, UNK shot 34.5% in a loss to West Texas A&M. That was the season-low prior to tonight. "Today we were a little hesitant (in shooting). Maybe it was a little bit of their pressure and the disruption to our offense but instead of just catching and shooting in rhythm we were hesitant. If you're not in rhythm and think about it for a second, it changes your shot," said Eighmey. Despite the cold shooting, the Lopers didn't let the Lions get ahead by more than eight for most of the night and used eight triples to not only hang around but also lead for four minutes. However, a 10-0 Lions run made it 22-16 midway through the second quarter and UNK was climbing uphill the rest of the night. Two free throws from South Dakota super senior Klaire Kirsch made it 39-38 with 2:59 left in third quarter. While it seemed UNK had the momentum, the Lions closed the quarter on a 9-4 run that included seven points from Stokes. UNK made its first two field goals of the fourth, making it a 50-47 deficit, but sunk only two more shots the rest of the game. This was one of three quarters where the Blue & Gold made four field goals. "Both times we've played them (this year) it's been in the 50's but this time they were able to crawl up in the 60's," said Eighmey. Beside Stokes heroics, the Lions almost got double doubles from 6-3 post Madi Stokes (12 rebounds, eight points) and reserve Amaya Johns (11 points, eight rebounds). MSSU was plus four on the glass, made 14 of 17 freebies and shot an even 40.0% from the field. All eight Lopers who took to the court scored with Kirsch (12) and point guard Sarah Schmitt (10) the leaders. Kirsch also had seven rebounds with Schmitt (Swisher, Ia.) supplying six as well as two assists. Before fouling out, Kansas super senior Elisa Backes had eight points, six boards, three steals and had a plus five rating. "We defended pretty well but there were a couple of stretches where we had some breakdowns that we typically don't have. At the same time, our offense was struggling and that was putting a lot of pressure on our defense to get stops," said Eighmey.
Comentários