Shepherd, West Liberty advance to next round
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CALIFORNIA – Gabby Flinchum, Shepherd’s 6-3 center, scored a game-high 21 points and seventh-seeded Shepherd pulled away down the stretch in the first upset of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional, knocking off Indiana, 68-60, Friday afternoon at Hamer Hall.
Shepherd (22-9), which lost to IUP by 30 points in November, ended the game on an 18-9 run. The Rams, who tied for the Mountain East regular-season title, made 25 of 31 free throws. Morgan Arden came off the bench to score 15 points and Rachel Johnson had 10.
IUP (25-4) shot only 32 percent from the field, was 12-for-24 at the free-throw line and 8-for-33 from three-point range. Ashley Stoner led four IUP players in double figures with 14 points. Lindsay Stamp, the Atlantic Region Player of the Year, was held to 11 points.
Shepherd will play Bloomsburg in the region semifinals at 5 p.m. today.
West Liberty 88, West Chester 85, OT: Kailee Howe scored 22 points, including two key free throws in the final minute of overtime, as fifth-seeded West Liberty outlasted fourth-seeded West Chester, 88-85.
West Liberty’s Kierra Simpson scored 13 points and set an NCAA Division II tournament record with 29 rebounds. Hillary Southworth added 20 points and made four of the Hilltoppers’ 12 three-pointers. West Liberty, the WVIAC champion, trailed by 13 points early in the second half but rallied and forced overtime at 73-73 on a three-pointer by Jenn Mohney with 23 seconds left in regulation.
Dallas Ely led West Chester (24-6) with 25 points, Brittany Sicinski followed with 22 and had a big second half.
Bloomsburg 81, Gannon 76: Jocelyn Ford scored 20 points and made a go-ahead three-pointer with 1:01 remaining and Bloomsburg overcame a double-digit second-half deficit to defeat Gannon 81-76 in the opening game of the regional.
Andreana Sadowski also had 20 points for Bloomsburg (25-4), which trailed 57-45 with 12 minutes remaining. Taylor Maldonado, Marla Simmson and Taylor Kaminski each had 20 points for the Huskies, who made 11 three-pointers.
Mollie Sebald scored a game-high 24 points for Gannon (21-8), which lost despite shooting 52 percent, and Brittany Batts had 16.