FRANKFORT, Ky. - Westmont captured the program's first-ever national championship tonight with a 71-65 win over Lee (Tenn.) in the championship final of the 2013 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship at the Frankfort Convention Center [read more]
FRANKFORT, Ky. - Westmont captured the program's first-ever national championship tonight with a 71-65 win over Lee (Tenn.) in the championship final of the 2013 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship at the Frankfort Convention Center. Westmont, who finishes the season with a 30-4 overall record, sealed the institution's eighth national crown when tournament Most Valuable Player Tugce Canitez (6'2''-F-90) connected on a runner in the lane to give the Warriors a 71-65 lead with nine seconds left. Lee (34-3) had its last two opportunities blocked as the final seconds ran off the clock.
Canitez and fellow forward Kelsie Sampson (6'1''-F) paced Westmont with 25 points each, while guard Esther Lee scored 12 points on a 4-of-5 effort from beyond the arc. Canitez, who added a game-high 20 rebounds to earn her 17th double-double of the season, ended her senior season four points shy of tying the Westmont career scoring record.
Lee's Hollie German (5'8''-G) set the tone early as she scored the Lady Flames first nine points, including her first of four 3-pointers to open the game. The Lady Flames grew their lead to eight, 16-8, seven minutes into the first half on another German three.
However, Westmont took its first lead of the night, 17-16, with a 9-0 run capped by two free throws by Kelsie Sampson. The two teams traded runs over the next few minutes before Westmont's high-pressure defense began to upset Lee's tempo.
The Warriors held Lee, who shot 50 percent from the field up until the eight minute mark, to only two field goals over the final eight minutes of the first half. The drought allowed Westmont to go on a 15-2 run before German hit a fade-away jumper as the buzzer sounded to make it 34-30 Westmont at the half.
Westmont finished the opening period shooting 48 percent (12-of-25) from the floor, while Lee limped into the half with a 36.4 percent (12-of-33) field goal percentage. Canitez and German both scored 14 points in the half.
Lee came out of the locker room as the aggressor, scoring four quick points to tie the score 34-34 at the 19:31 mark. The Lady Flames tied the score twice more during the period, but each time Westmont scored on its next possession. The Warriors earned their first double-digit lead of the game with 4:42 left on Sampon's 25th point of the night.
Back-to-back buckets by Jenna Adams (6'2''-F) and a 3-pointer from German cut the Westmont advantage back to three points with under a minute remaining, however it proved too little too late.
Westmont finished the game shooting 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc. The Warriors out rebounded the Lady Flames, 45-27.
Lee, who was appearing in its first-ever national championship final, shot 39.1 percent (25-of-64) for the game and struggled from 3-point range (8-of-25).
German paced the team with 27 points, while Adams was second with 19 points. Both German and Adams were named to the All-Tournament First Team.
All-Tournament MVP: Tugce Canitez (6'2''-F-90) of Westmont
Player of the Year: Tugce Canitez (6'2''-F-90) of Westmont
Tournament Hustle Award: Maria Bagwell (5'7''-F) of Freed-Hardeman
Coach of the Year: Kirsten Moore of Westmont
1st Team
F: Brittney Carter (6'3'') of Faulkner
PG: Natalie Shumpert (5'4'') of Freed-Hardeman
G: Hollie German (5'8'') of Lee
F: Ashley Rainey (6'2''-90) of [read more]
All-NAIA D1 1st Team 2012-2013
#s#
Canitez
Carter
Shumpert
German
Rainey
#e#5
All-Tournament MVP:Tugce Canitez (6'2''-F-90) of Westmont Player of the Year:Tugce Canitez (6'2''-F-90) of Westmont Tournament Hustle Award:Maria Bagwell (5'7''-F) of Freed-Hardeman Coach of the Year:Kirsten Moore of Westmont
Westmont downs Freed-Hardeman to Reach Finals - Mar 19, 2013
POSTED BY:
EUROBASKET NEWS
follow us on
FRANKFORT, Ky. - And then there were two. Westmont (Calif.) closed the most defensive Fab Four in NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championships history with a 59-49 upset of top-ranked Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) to advance to its first NAIA title game in program history.
The Warriors (29-4) will meet fellow newcomer Lee (Tenn.) in the championship game Tuesday night at the Frankfort Convention Center. The game is schedule to tip off at 6:35 p [read more]
FRANKFORT, Ky. - And then there were two. Westmont (Calif.) closed the most defensive Fab Four in NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championships history with a 59-49 upset of top-ranked Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) to advance to its first NAIA title game in program history. The Warriors (29-4) will meet fellow newcomer Lee (Tenn.) in the championship game Tuesday night at the Frankfort Convention Center. The game is schedule to tip off at 6:35 p.m. EDT and will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network, with Jason Knapp and Brenda VanLengen providing the call.
The 108-point (combined) game is the sixth lowest scoring game in Fab Four history and came on the heels of an 84-point game to start the night, which Lee won, 43-41. Combined, the 192 points is the best scoring defense performance by Fab Four teams, besting a 200 point total from 2011.
Westmont (Calif.) held the Lions to their worst shooting performance (.304) of the tournament, while putting together its best 3-point shooting performance of the season (.538), hitting 7-of-13 3-pointers.
Senior Tugce Canitez (6'2''-F-90) and sophomore guard Esther Lee each scored 19 points to lead the Warriors, while holding Freed-Hardeman leading scorer Natalie Shumpert to 13 points. Ashley Tate (5'6''-G) and Maria Bagwell each scored 10 for the Lions.
Freed-Hardeman took a 4-0 lead to open the game, but Canitez had her first of several individual mini-runs for the Warriors, evening the score, 4-4. Shumpert quickly answered with a 3 to regain the Lions' lead with 14:13 to play. FHU maintained a 2-to-5-point lead for the next 10 minutes before Celina Gougis hit her first of two big shots in the game, a 3 to pull within a point, 21-20.
While Freed-Hardeman managed to hold off Westmont temporarily, Kelsie Sampson knocked down a free throw with 2:31 remaining to spark a 9-0 run. Lee scored the last eight of the run to give Westmont the lead, 29-23. Ashley Tate hit a 3 to cut the score to 29-26 at halftime.
Westmont maintained a 3-to-6-point lead for the first six minutes of the second half until Shumpert cut it to two, 39-37, with 13:36 left. Bagwell followed with a key defensive stop, intercepting Canitez's pass out of the paint, but the Lady Lions were unable to capitalize on the opportunity. Bagwell later cut it to two again, 43-41, with 10:24 to play, but Canitez responded with six points as part of an 8-0 Westmont lead to break the game open. Gougis hit a basket to make it a 10-point game, 51-41.
The closest Freed-Hardeman came to a comeback attempt was Shumpert cutting it to six, 51-45, with 5:23 to play. Two minutes later, Gougis threw a dagger from the top of the key to Sampson in the paint for a quick layup. The quick strike made it 55-45 with 2:51 to play, and Freed-Hardeman was unable to respond, shooting only 2-of-5 down the stretch.
Gougis finished with nine points and eight rebounds for Westmont, while Sampson finished with seven points and seven rebounds. Canitez led all players with nine rebounds. Bagwell had eight for Freed-Hardeman, while Amber Alexander and Hayley Newby each had seven.
The FHU loss snaps a 21-game win streak since December, while Westmont is the only Fab Four team to enter the tournament coming off a loss. The Warriors are now on a four-game win streak after previously winning 17 straight before the Golden State Athletic Conference championship.
Freed-Hardeman (34-2) finished the year with its best season in program history, sweeping through TranSouth Athletic Conference play to win its fifth TSAC title and winning a program best 34 wins. The Fab Four appearance was FHU's fourth in program history. Courtesy of: http://www.naia.org
Copyright (c) 1998-2013 Eurobasket Inc. Disclaimer
WARNING:
Do not copy, redistribute, publish or otherwise exploit information that you download from the site !
Do not encumber, license, modify, publish, sell, transfer or transmit, or in any way exploit, any of the
content of the site, nor will you attempt to do so.
USA Basketball
Canadian Hoops
