Fighting Saints knock out SOU in Round of 32
SOU Sports Information
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Eighth-ranked St. Francis (Ill.) used its length to bother Southern Oregon and end the Raiders' season late Wednesday night in the NAIA Division II Championships Round of 32, 73-52 at the Tyson Events Center.
The Fighting Saints (29-5) – the No. 2 seed in the Liston quadrant of the bracket – entered the matchup with the nation's third-best defensive rebounding average and fourth-lowest opponents' scoring average, and demonstrated why against seventh-seeded SOU. They kept the Raiders to 35-percent shooting, altering shots around the basket while SOU struggled to get going outside, and led for the final 39 minutes.
Kaitlin Aylward, a 6-foot forward who was the Chicagoland Conference's player of the year, amassed 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and seven rebounds. Adriana Acosta, another forward, shot 6-of-9 and put up 19 points and 11 boards.
USF went up 34-15 nearing halftime, but the Raiders stole momentum by going into the break with nine unanswered points. The Saints quickly dashed their hopes in the opening moments of the third, however, with three consecutive 3-point makes.
SOU, which qualified the tournament by advancing to the Cascade Conference Tournament championship game, finished with a 20-11 record, making this its seventh season in the last eight with at least 20 wins.
The game was the last in the careers of Raider senior guards Daranda Hinkey and Delaney Sparling, who collected 91 victories and played in three national tournaments over four years.
Sparling went out with seven points and four steals, and Hinkey went for five points, four steals and four rebounds.
Dominique Harding and Bryanna Raff scored 10 points apiece to lead the Raiders. Syd'Nee Fryer chipped in eight with seven boards.
Coming off of a Chicagoland Tournament title, the Saints have won 21 of their last 23 overall. They'll play in Friday's Round of 16 against sixth-seeded West Virginia Tech, an upset winner earlier in the night over Morningside (Iowa).