Sioux City, IA – The third-seed Patriots women's basketball team rallied in the fourth quarter, however, it wasn't enough as they fell to #1 Dordt 83-73 in the national semifinals.  Cumberlands closes out this historic season with a 26-10 record after earning UC's first trip to the Fab Four.

Kassie Monday led the way for UC with 23 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds.  Kaylie Monday added 16 points, five steals and four rebounds.  Both players etched their name in the program record books as Kassie Monday became the Patriots single season assist leader dishing 227 on the year, while Kaylie Monday is Cumberlands single season leader for steals with 109.  Destiny Haworth added 11 points and a season-high five assists. 

The Patriots took an early lead as Kaylie Monday grabbed an offensive board and putback to make it 5-3.  A minute later, Lakin Burke added a jumper to spark an 8-0 Patriots run, that included four points from LeeAnna McNulty to give UC a 13-5 lead with 4:05 left.  Channing Lewis and Victory Fredricks each converted a jumper in the paint in the closing minutes of the quarter to put Cumberlands in front 19-12.

The teams traded baskets to open the second quarter before Kaylie Monday notched a steal and a layup to put the Patriots in front 23-13.  That steal was her 105^th on the season, surpassing Silvia Veloso for the single season lead.  Kassie Monday added a layup and dished out assists to Kaylie Monday and Joy Kendrick extending the lead to 29-15 with 6:40 remaining in the first half.  Dordt went on an 18-4 run to close out the quarter send the game into halftime tied 33-33.

Kassie Monday notched a layup and an assist to keep the game even at 37-37, two minutes into the third quarter.  After Haworth hit a seven foot jumper, the Defenders scored 17 unanswered points to take a 56-39 lead with 3:29 remaining.  Cumberlands closed out the quarter going 7-7 from the charity stripe to cut the deficit to 65-48 heading into the fourth quarter.

After Dordt hit a bucket on their first possession of the period, Kassie Monday led the Patriots response scoring seven straight points before connecting with Haworth on consecutive possession to pull within nine at 69-60 with 7:11 left.  Haworth tallied a steal and pushed the ball forward to Kaylie Monday for a layup brining the Pats with seven points.  Two minutes later, Haworth found Kaylie Monday who drained a three pointer cutting the deficit to 75-69 with 4:00 minutes left.  After a pair of defensive stops, Burke added back-to-back layup to cut it to 77-73 with :50 seconds remaining. That was the closest UC came as Dordt hit six free throws for the 83-73 final.

The Patriots close out with their 2023-24 season being one for the record books becoming the first Patriots women's basketball team to advance to the national semifinals. 

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