Lady Blues rally to face ESU in regional finals
March 11, 2006
TOPEKA, Kan. -- For the second time in seven days, Washburn senior guard Jennifer Harris led a second-half rally for the top-ranked Lady Blues against Central Missouri State as they came back from an 11-point second-half deficit and defeated the Jennies, 65-51, in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Saturday night (March 11) at Lee Arena.
The Lady Blues (32-0) extended their NCAA Division II-record for consecutive wins to 51, and will face Emporia State (27-4) in a rematch of the 2005 South Central Regional finals Monday (March 13) at 7 p.m. WU improved to 9-1 in NCAA tournament games at Lee Arena.
Harris scored 25 of her 33 points in the second half, and added 12 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Junior forward Brooke Ubelaker added 11. She had 30 of her 33 points in the second half of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Postseason Tournament championship game March 5 at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium, as WU prevailed over the Jennies, 75-71.
Harris now has 765 points this season, surpassing the MIAA single-season record of 737 set in 1995-96 by Missouri Southern’s Melissa Grider. ESU’s Michelle Stueve is third on the list with 725.
Sophomore guard Lindsey Maple scored 15 points for the Jennies (22-10), while senior guard Anna Rorvig added 11 points.
In spite of committing 12 first-half turnovers, CMSU had control for a good portion of the first half. It was thanks to 10-of-18 shooting from the field (55.6 percent) -- including 5-of-8 from three-point range -- and 7-of-9 shooting from the foul line.
A 9-1 spurt ending at the 10:24 mark gave the Jennies a 16-9 lead, an advantage they would keep for the remainder of the first half. Maple had seven of the points for CMSU, including the go-ahead layup with 13:02 left in the period.
Washburn got within two points with 8:33 left on a Harris layup, 17-15, but no closer the rest of the first half. A 10-1 run by the Jennies capped with a three from junior F Meagan Fromm pushed the lead to 12, 32-20, with 53 seconds to go in the half. A Ubelaker trey as time expired sent the teams to halftime with CMSU up by nine, 32-23.
The Jennies pushed back ahead by double figures in the first 1:17 of the second half on a jumper by Rorvig, but a 12-3 flurry by the Lady Blues got them and the partisan crowd announced at 3,415 back in the game. Harris scored eight during the run., including the layup which made it a two-point CMSU lead, 37-35, with 13:47 to go.
After a traditional three-point play by Fromm put Central Missouri State back up five, 40-35, Harris led another Lady Blues charge. A 20-6 run with 12 points by the unanimous Daktronics Division II All-South Central Region choice gave WU the lead for the first time since the 13:22 mark of the first half.
Harris scored the go-ahead bucket with 8:28 remaining, and by the end of the outburst, Washburn held a 55-46 lead with 3:54 to go.
A layup by Rorvig and a trey from senior G Kara Rewerts pulled CMSU within four, 55-51, with 1:06 left. But Washburn made its foul shots when CMSU was forced to foul, and took advantage of a pair of intentional foul calls in the final minute as well as a technical foul on the Jennies’ bench -- to the tune of 7-of-8 shooting at the stripe which put the Lady Blues’ advantage into double figures.
CMSU was held to 7-of-21 shooting in the second half, and committed 13 more turnovers to give the Jennies 25 for the game. The Lady Blues had 16 steals in the game, as senior guard April Roadhouse, the MIAA’s Defensive Player of the Year, collected five to go with Harris’ four.
-- NCAA Division II --