Two GPAC women’s basketball teams advanced at the national NAIA Tourney Thursday while one was sent packing.
Though inexperienced on the national stage, seniors Alex Kneeland and Raquel Sutera played like the seasoned vets they are in powering third-seeded Mount Marty’s (S.D.) second ever win at the national championships. A first team all-Great Plains Athletic Conference choice, Kneeland mounted a game high 34 points as the Lancers pulled a pulse pounder out of the fire, 73-69, over Purdue Calumet (Ind.) on Thursday night.
The Lancers now get set to take on second-seeded College of the Ozarks (Mo.) (27-4) at 8:45 p.m. CT on Friday.
Early on it appeared that fourth-seeded Briar Cliff (Iowa) would run fifth-seeded St. Ambrose (Iowa) out of the gym in a battle of border-town Iowa institutions. The well-established Charger program has never lost a national tournament first-round game (13-0). That trend continued as Briar Cliff won, 75-63, on Thursday afternoon.
Briar Cliff, a national semifinalist in 2015, will play top-seeded Southern Oregon (29-1) on Friday.
The other GPAC team in action, Hastings, lost to Tabor 68-44.
