March 11, 2006

Final Stats

TACOMA, Wash. - Hardin-Simmons' women's basketball continued its march in the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship with a 76-72 overtime win over Pacific Lutheran, early Sunday morning in Tacoma, Wash.

The Cowgirls had four players hit double figures in points led by junior center Melissa Henley's 20. Shelby Hodges, Lyssa Dennard and Rachel Cisneroz each had 12 points. It was a career-best for Cisneroz and they all came at critical times.

She hit a running shot at the halftime buzzer to make it 29-28 at the break. Her 3-pointer at the 12:45 mark gave the Cowgirls their biggest lead of the game up until that point at 45-40. She then cut a four-point deficit to one at 51-50 with another 3-pointer at the 9:16 mark. She missed a shot in the overtime but got her rebound and hit a jumper on the baseline to give the Cowgirls the lead they would not relinquish at 63-61.

Cisneroz' final two points were her biggest, as she drained two free throws with eight seconds remaining that made it a 4-point game. PLU had hit three 3-pointers in the final minute of overtime to cut a 9-point game to two with eight seconds to play.

"We worked so hard to get to this point, they were leaving me open and I just shot," said Cisneroz. "We played with a lot of heart tonight and hopefully we keep it going."

The Cowgirls led 61-55 with 2:41 to play, but PLU scored the final six points of regulation to tie it at 61-61. HSU had a shot to win the game late but Melissa Henley's contested shot came up short.

The Cowgirls limited Nikki Johnson, the Northwest Conference Player of the Year, to six points. Kezia Long had 22 points and 11 rebounds for PLU and Kelly Turner had 21.

The Cowgirls improved to 23-5 on the year. Pacific Lutheran closed its year with a 24-4 mark.

HSU is in the Elite Eight for the third time and are looking for the first trip to the Final Four. They will play Randolph-Macon, an 80-71 winner over Wisconsin-Stout, at 9 p.m. CST.

--- HSU Athletics ---