Posted by Jason Dannelly - Sat, Mar 13, 2010 - [WBB DII] - Viewed 609 times

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - (Box Score) Indiana Wesleyan forced College of the Ozarks (Mo.) into ice-cold shooting and took advantage of 15 turnovers en route to a 68-50 quarterfinal victory Saturday at the 19th Annual State Farm-NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena.

With the win, Indiana Wesleyan (29-6) earns a spot in Monday's semifinals with a date against Shawnee State (Ohio) at 6 p.m. It will be the second national championship meeting between the two teams, as the Wildcats defeated Shawnee State in the first round in 2004.

Ozarks' 29-5 season comes to an end in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row.

The meeting between Ozarks and Indiana Wesleyan was the third since 2007. Both teams have previously been responsible for knocking the other out. Indiana Wesleyan won the national title over Ozarks in 2007 and Ozarks avenged the loss in 2009 with a second-round win over the Wildcats.

The first half was a see-saw battle with neither team holding more than a four-point lead until an Elaine Hessel bucket at 1:37 gave the Wildcats a six-point advantage. Heading into the break, Indiana Wesleyan was up by two (23-21) and was led by Hessel's 14 first-half points.

Indiana Wesleyan came out of the locker room on a 7-0 run courtesy of jumpers by Lindsey Waggoner and Rachel Steinbarger, followed by a 3-pointer from Kayla Thompson to go up 30-21. The Wildcats' lead grew to as many as 18 behind 14-of-23 shooting good for a 60.9 field goal percentage and a 60 percent clip from behind the 3-point line. Indiana Wesleyan was clutch from the free-throw line by hitting 16-of-19 tries. In the second stanza, the Wildcats outscored Ozarks 45-29.

After posting a blazing 58.3 percent from 3-point land the night before, Ozarks could not connect on any of its seven attempts from downtown. The Bobcats were a mere 16-of-45 from the floor for just a 35.6 field goal percentage with only four players who logged minutes turning in points. Turnovers were also a problem for Ozarks with 15 giveaways that resulted in 11 points for the Wildcats.

Hessel was the game's leading scorer with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including a pair of 3s and Steinbarger added 16 points to lead Indiana Wesleyan's charge. The Wildcats finished the game shooting 44 percent from both the floor and long range.

Emily Bell's career as a Bobcat came to a close with a 19-point outing on 6-of-12 tries. She was joined in double figures by Tara LaRue's 12 and Morgan Smith's 11 points. Ozarks outscored Indiana Wesleyan down low with 26 points in the paint.
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