Sioux City, IA – The third-seed Cumberlands women's basketball team outscored seventh-seed Dakota Wesleyan 22-13 in the fourth quarter to complete the second half comeback and earn the 87-80 win Friday afternoon at the Tyson Event Center. The Patriots overcame a nine point halftime deficit to advance to the national quarterfinals for just the second time in program history and the first time since 2009.
Destiny Haworth led the way with 21 points on 9-16 from the field.
Kassie Monday added 18 points to go along with nine assists, while
Channing Lewis tallied 14 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and three steals.
Lakin Burke and
Kaylie Monday combined for 17 points, 12 rebounds, and a pair of steals, while
Joy Kendrick added 13 points and four rebounds off the bench.
Dakota Wesleyan opened the game with four straight points before
Kassie Monday found Burke on the block for a layup. On the next possession, Burke dished out to Haworth on the wing for a three-pointer to give Cumberlands its first lead of the game 5-4. The Tigers retook an 8-7 lead two minutes later, however, Kendrick converted on a ten-foot jumper to put UC back in front.
Kassie Monday went 4-4 from the charity stripe, while Kendrick sank a three-pointer, however Dakota Wesleyan answered with the final four points of the period to take a 22-20 lead.
Lewis opened the second quarter with a jumper to even the score at 22-22, 20 seconds into the quarter. The Tigers went on a 10-0 run, that spanned over four minutes, before Lewis added her second jumped to cut the deficit to 32-24 with 5:21 remaining. Dakota Wesleyan added a 7-0 run later in the period before Haworth and
Kaylie Monday converted consecutive layups to pull the Patriots within nine at 39-30. After both teams, scored four points each, Kendrick recorded a block to send UC into half trailing 43-34.
Cumberlands came out strong to open the second half as Lewis tallied four points, two rebounds, and a block as
LeeAnna McNulty chipped in a layup to cut the deficit to 45-40, two-minutes in. A couple plays later
Kassie Monday converted a three-point play before finding Haworth on the wing for a three-pointer to make it 51-48 midway through the quarter. Kendrick added a jumper off an assist from
Kaylie Monday to spark a 9-0 Patriots run that was capped off by a three-point play from Burke to put Cumberlands in front 57-54. Haworth drained her third shot from long range in the contest as Dakota Welseyan closed out the quarter on a 7-1 run to take a 67-65 edge.
Kassie Monday connected with Haworth twice in the first minute of the fourth quarter to put UC in front 69-67. Dakota Wesleyan went on a 7-2 run to take a 73-71 lead before the Patriots stormed back with seven unanswered points, capped off with
Kaylie Monday finding
Kassie Monday at the top of the key for a three-pointer to make it 78-74 with 3:57 remaining. The Tigers pulled within a point late, however, Lewis added a jumper and a steal, while both
Kassie Monday and
Kaylie Monday hit a pair from the free throw line to make it 85-78. In the closing seconds of the game, Lewis found Haworth for an open layup to earn the 87-80 victory.
Cumberlands converted 72.2% from the field in the third quarter, while hitting 63.3% from the field in the fourth quarter to spark the comeback.
The Patriots advance to the NAIA quarterfinals on Saturday, March 23, when they face the top-seed in the Duer Quadrant, Campbellsville at 7 p.m. (ET). It will mark the fourth time this season that these two teams will square off.
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