Summary provided by NJCAA
Lubbock, Texas – Trailing 13 points early in the third quarter, North Dakota State did not perform well in the opening game of the NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship against Eastern Arizona.
But somehow, the Lady Wildcats found a way and pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the first round of the tournament.
Ariana Berryhill scored six points on a 9–0 run early in the fourth quarter and cooled the game with two free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining. Arizona Wednesday night at the Rip Griffin Center.
Berryhill had eight rebounds for a game-high 24 points and scored 10-of-14 from the free-throw line, leading a group of four players who scored in double figures.
North Dakota SCS head coach Park Masterson said he was “very proud” to have just eight players in the game. “Fantastic and amazing. I’m very happy with everything they’ve achieved and I’m very proud of them.”
With the NDSCS’ first national victory in program history, the Lady Wildcats (30-4) will advance to the second round, where they will face fifth seed Brin College at 3:00 PM on Friday.
Charita Lewis had 14 points, Ivy Fox 12 (including a huge 3-pointer with 31 seconds left), and Lady Wildcats’ Quinn Nepple 11 for a 46.9 percent field goal percentage.
Trailing 60-54, Berryhill and Lewis paired 9-0 runs to put the Lady Wildcats up 63-60. Single point. But every time, Lady Wildcats has found a way to keep the Gila monsters at bay.
NDSCS won the game with their aggressiveness and reaching the free throw line. Here, Gila Monster Lizard he was 7 out of 11, while Lady Wildcats he was 18 out of 24. The Lady Wildcats also had him 3 points and he ranged and he was 8 of 17.
“We just found five that work,” says Masterson. “On offense, he’s found one of our offenses to flow, score from there, defensively maintain and execute game plans, and, honestly, outlast them.”
Sky Mirror led East Arizona with 12 points, with Tiara Bolden adding 11 points and Charrance Montoya adding 10 points.
Eastern Arizona used their inside advantage and strong shooting half to take a 41-33 lead in the intermission. He shot 50% (19 of 38) for the Gila monsters and he edged the Wildcats 26–10 in points for the paint.
The Gila monsters also rebounded NDSCS 22-15, including a 9-4 advantage in offensive rebounding.
Conversely, North Dakota didn’t shoot too badly in the first half, shooting 42.9% (12 of 28) from the field. That allowed the Lady Wildcats to stay close by for the entire first half.
Neither team led more than eight in the first half until Eastern Arizona had a 10-2 run starting at the 5:13 mark in the second quarter and ending almost three minutes later. Vitoria Santa hit a three-point shot and Tiara Bowden scored the final seven points of halftime to give the Giramonsters an eight-point lead at halftime.
Boden finished the first half with 11 points and Charita Lewis led the North Dakota SCS with 10 points.
