Concordia Women Rally Late, Pull Out OT Win
SIOUX CITY, Iowa—Concordia (Ore.) scored the last nine points in regulation to force overtime and held on in the first extra session to defeat Iowa Wesleyan 70-68 in the first round of the 2009 NAIA Division II Women's National Basketball Tournament.
With the win, third-seeded Concordia improved to 29-3 on the year while IWU, a No. 6 seed, ended its season with a 22-10 record. Concordia will face second-seeded Dickinson State (N.D.) in the round of 16 tomorrow at 11:45 a.m. (CST). Dickinson State enters the battle with a 25-6 record after defeating Ohio Dominican 77-44 in the first round.
“Our defense got us out to a good start and Iowa Wesleyan started knocking down some big shots,” Concordia head coach Aaron Christian said. “Our kids were resilient. We fought hard and played really well in overtime.”
Holding Iowa Wesleyan to 25.9 percent shooting in the first half and without a point for the first six minutes of play, Concordia seized a 17 point lead (27-10) with just over three minutes remaining in the half, but the Tigers finished the period with a 9-3 run to cut the Cavalier lead down to 11 with the score 30-19.
Iowa Wesleyan converted early in the second half and trailed by seven with 14:17 left in the game. From there the Tigers kept charging and eventually took their first lead of the game at the 7:44 mark on a Heather Larson three-pointer, making it 51-49.
Iowa Wesleyan got up by as many as nine points and looked poised to pull the upset with 2:24 left and the score resting at 63-54. But the Tigers went cold from the free throw line and Concordia forged the comeback with a pair of free throws by Maryam Razavi at the 1:44 mark; a two point basket by Sarah Eischen with :54 remaining and a three-pointer by Razavi at the :41 mark. With a runner just inside the free throw line with :11 remaining, Danielle Clauson forced overtime with the high-pressure shot.
Concordia then outscored the Tigers 7-5 in the extra session to win their 29th game in 32 starts. It wasn’t until nearly three minutes had elapsed that either team could find the basket in the overtime session with Clauson using a reverse layup to take the lead. On the ensuing possession the Tigers would get a free throw make followed by a Mitchell drIve down the lane in a two-versus-two situation to take a 66-65 lead.
CU’s Kenna Borgmeier responded with a three pointer to break the tie while the Tigers would get deep in the paint to square the game at 68 with 12 seconds remaining. Taking control, Gimeno found some space and connected on a jumper with five seconds to spare for the eventual game winner. Iowa Wesleyan had an attempt at a three-pointer to win the game, but the shot was off the mark, falling harmlessly to the floor at the buzzer.
Concordia was 29-of-75 from the floor for 39 percent while Iowa Wesleyan made 23-of-61 shots for 38 percent. After connecting on just 2-of-11 from three-point territory in the first half, the Tigers knocked down 10-of-22 in the second half from long range.
Both teams struggled from the free throw line as Iowa Wesleyan made just 10-of-19 tries and Concordia 5-of-10. The Tigers committed 20 turnovers to Concordia’s 12. Iowa Wesleyan held a slight 47-44 rebounding edge.
Shooting 8-of-19 from the field, Angela Gimeno scored a game-high 21 points and tied for the game-high with nine rebounds. Clauson added 14 and Razavi dropped in 12 in a reserve role.
With a trio of threes, Rachel Mitchell scored 19 points and Ali De Vries had 16 for the Tigers. The Tigers qualified for the tournament by virtue of their Midwest Collegiate Conference championship while Concordia is the conference champion in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.