Bears Crush Indians, Move on to Sweet Sixteen
Casey Todt
Issue date: 3/3/10 Section: Women's Basketball Nat'l Tournament
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SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- Shawnee State came into their first round National Tournament game hoping contain Haskell University's Justina George and control the pace in Wednesday morning's contest and they did just that, crushing the Haskell Indians 79-40 at the Tyson Event Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
Shawnee State senior forward Alison Meyer scored the Bears first seven points as the Bears shot only 37 percent from the field in a sloppy first half. Haskell shot well in the first half, connecting on 50 percent of their shots including two three-pointers. Despite the flip-flopped shooting efforts the Bears held a 31-24 advantage at the half.
"When Haskell would turn the ball over, we would come down and miss our shot and that really kept the game close early, "said Bears Head Coach Robin Hagen-Smith.
The second half started just the way Coach Hagen-Smith had hoped as the Bears raced their way to an 18-5 run just minutes into the half. The Bears never looked back, outscoring Haskell 48-16 in the second half.
"At halftime we knew that if we kept taking the shots they would start to fall; we just had to keep running our offense and playing smart," Hagen-Smith added after the game.
For the Indians, it was their first trip to the NAIA National Tournament and it showed at times throughout the game. Haskell opened up the second half unable to make shots and didn't appear to have a response to the depth and talent that Shawnee State presented them with.
"Shawnee State is a veteran team with lots of depth," Haskell Head Coach Phil Homeratha said following the defeat. "They did what they had to do to shut us down and proved they were the better team."
After going 1-2 in their past two appearances at the National Tournament, Shawnee State was focused on a positive first game to build momentum.
"It was big to come out and win the way we did," said Alison Meyer, who finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds in the win." It's do or die now that we are out here (Sioux City) so it's important we are playing our best game.
The No. 3 seeded Bears will now take on the No.7 seed, Aquinas College (Mich.) Friday at 9:30 am (ET) in the Sweet Sixteen. Aquinas upset No. 2 seeded St. Francis (Ind.) in the game following Shawnee State's win.
Check back Thursday for a complete preview of the match-up vs. Aquinas and for more photos and tournament coverage.
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