SIOUX CITY, Iowa - (Box Score) St. Thomas (Fla.) climbed back from a 24-point deficit to start the second half to bring the game within eight points with just over three minutes to play, but it was too little to late as College of the Ozarks (Mo.) held off the Bobcats for the 68-59 win in the first round of the 19th Annual State Farm-NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena on Wednesday.

Ozarks, now 28-4, advances to the second round with a 5:15 p.m. date on Friday against the winner of the Morningside (Iowa)/Kansas Wesleyan matchup. The Bobcats are making their 16th national championship appearance and improve their first-round record to 11-7. The loss forces St. Thomas to exit from its first-ever trip to the national championship and wrap up its season with 22-9 record.

Ozarks raced out to a 42-30 halftime advantage behind a sizzling 56.3 shooting percentage, connecting on 18-of-32 field goal attempts. Morgan Smith paced the Bobcats with 16 first-half points and would finish the game with a game-high 22. St. Thomas fought its way back by forcing the Bobcats into 23 second-half turnovers to chip away at Ozarks' lead, but just as St. Thomas got close, Ozarks shut the door on the comeback. With the lead down to eight at 3:09, Ozarks nailed a 3-pointer and increased its lead to 15 to deny the Bobcats their momentum.

Aiding the Ozarks offense behind the play of Smith was an 11-point, 14-rebound showing from Tara LaRue. As a team, the Bobcats shot 52.9 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from behind the 3-point line.

St. Thomas out-scored Ozarks 39-26 in the second half hitting 2-of-5 3-point attempts and 15-of-43 its looks from the floor. Pacing the Bobcat scoring attack was the trio of Alexandria Vanderpool with 16 points, Nickerline Montina's 14 points and Carissa Staiano with 12 points.