SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Despite a career-high high 21 points by senior forward Ashley Knight, the No. 9 EOU women’s basketball team’s upset bid over No. 1 Saint Francis came up just short in the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championship, as the Mountaineers dropped a 51-48 heartbreaker on Saturday evening.
EOU held an eight-point (31-23) advantage at halftime thanks to a 50 percent (13-for-26) shooting effort, but the Mountaineers went cold in the second half, and Saint Francis came up with some critical offensive rebounds down the stretch to end the Blue and Gold’s 30-win season.
Knight shot 9-for-14 from the field to go along with seven rebounds and a block, while junior guard Maya Ah You (Dias) added 11 points, two assists, and six boards. Senior forward Donniesha Webber secured a team-high eight rebounds, and junior guard Jessica Sexson added seven points.
In the first quarter, EOU (30-5) shot a blistering 62.5 percent (10-for-16) from the floor and outscored the Fighting Saints in the paint, 16-6. Knight was key for the Blue and Gold, netting 10 points on a 5-for-6 effort from the field. With the game tied at six apiece, Knight scored back-to-back buckets in traffic, and then junior guard Payton Parrish swooshed a trey to spark a 17-4 run to close the stanza.
Saint Francis (34-1) made it a six-point (29-23) game with a 13-6 run in the second quarter, but Dias scored in the final moments of the frame to put the Blue and Gold up eight at halftime. Between Knight’s post play and EOU’s stifling defense, the Mountaineers managed to control tempo in the opening 20 minutes, which included three charges drawn and a come-from-behind block by junior forward Stormee Van Belle.
The third stanza saw the Fighting Saints outscore the Mountaineers, 17-8, to go up 40-39 entering the fourth quarter. Knight scored with 3:45 remaining in the third to put EOU up three (37-34), but the Blue and Gold missed six of its next seven to fall behind by five (44-39) at the 8:29 mark of the fourth period.
Despite the drought, EOU continued to hang around thanks to buckets by senior guard Darian Gasseling, Dias, and Knight to pull within three (48-45) with 2:50 left to go. Saint Francis hauled in two offensive boards before converting inside to go back up by five (50-45), and then the Mountaineers went 3-for-4 at the line to shrink the deficit to two (50-48) with only 51 seconds left.
On the Fighting Saints’ next possession, the Blue and Gold forced the missed three-pointer, but once again, Saint Francis crashed the glass and pulled down another offensive rebound.
After Saint Francis went 1-for-2 at the line, EOU attained possession and called a timeout with 7.8 seconds left. Dias caught a pass at the top of the key under heavy pressure and found some space to her left for a desperation heave, but it was off the mark.
Knight, Gasseling, Webber, and Bailey Schroeder each put the finishing touches on their careers for EOU. The 2016-17 campaign will certainly go down as one of the best of all time, as it featured the second-most wins (30), a regular-season and conference tournament championship, and the third quarterfinal appearance at the NAIA National Championship in program history under 17th-year head coach Anji Weissenfluh.
BY THE NUMBERS
30 – EOU finished the campaign with 30 wins, the second-highest total in school history.
21 – Knight tallied 21 points in her final game as a Mountaineer, a career-best effort. She shot 9-for-14 from the field and grabbed seven boards as well.
15 – Saint Francis recorded 15 offensive rebounds, which translated into 15 second-chance points compared to only four by EOU.