Oregon Tech Advances in NAIA DII Tournament with Upset win over No. 2 Jamestown
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – For the first time in program-history the Oregon Tech Lady Owls moved out of the first round and into the round of 16 after a come-from-behind 71-64 victory over eighth-ranked and two-seed Jamestown University (N.D.).
Oregon Tech, the seven-seed in the Naismith portion of the 2016 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Championship, delivered the first upset of the tournament, ending the Jimmies season at 29-5. Oregon Tech will face No. 3 Marian (Ind.) on Friday, March 11 beginning at 12 p.m. CST.
Tech fell behind early but scored the final six points of the first quarter to tie the game at 12-all.
Tied 23-23 with just 2:14 to play in the first half, Jamestown scored seven-straight, including a triple and layup by Kaeli Kraska to move up 30-23 with under a minute on the clock. Tech would trail by the same margin, 32-35, at the break.
Midway through the third quarter Tech found themselves down 13 points, 42-29. Tech, however, would catch fire from that point with Ashleigh Vandenbrink scoring to begin a 15-0 spurt that put the Owls up 44-42 after a Morgan Roberts basket with 51 seconds to play in the third quarter. Tech would trail 45-44 heading into the final stanza.
Tied 48-all four minutes into the fourth quarter, back-to-back scores by Megan Whetstone and Ashleigh Vandenbrink gave the Owls a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Oregon Tech would lead by nine on three occasions, the last on a Roberts free throw with 29 seconds to play, and would hold on for the 71-64 win.
Four Owls finished in double-digits led by a game-high 16 points from Megan Whetstone. Ashleigh Vandenbrink tallied 13 points with Morgan Roberts adding 12 and Karly Leveque 11 in their first win at the national championships.
Oregon Tech connected on 25-of-54 from the field and were 18-of-20 from the charity stripe. Tech edged Jamestown 37-35 on rebounds, while holding the Jimmies to just 34.4% shooting on 21-of-61 from the floor.