Vanguard shaky but advances in tournament opener, 63-51

Call it tournament-opening jitters, but the Vanguard University

women’s basketball team was forced to overcome its worst performance

of the year to defeat St. Xavier of Illinois, 63-51, in the first

round of the NAIA Division I tournament Thursday at Oman Arena in

Jackson, Tenn.

The No. 3-seeded Lions (30-2) had a season-high 30 turnovers and

shot just 30.2% from the field (13 of 43). But they erased a 24-22

halftime deficit to advance to today’s second round.

Coach Russ Davis’ Golden State Athletic Conference champions will

face Oklahoma Christian (20-14) today at 12:15 PST. It is a rematch

of last year’s NAIA tournament quarterfinal, when the Lions scored 14

unanswered points in the final 3 1/2 minutes to snatch a 61-60 win

and advance to the program’s first Final Four.

“We know they want us bad, after last year,” Davis said of the

Lady Eagles, ranked No. 25 in the final NAIA regular-season poll, who

upset No. 12-ranked Xavier of Louisiana, 69-55, Thursday.

Vanguard freshman forward Kelly Schmidt paced the Lions Thursday,

making 15 of 18 free throws en route to a game-high 27 points.

Schmidt, an All-GSAC performer, also had a game-high 16 rebounds.

“Kelly was awesome,” Davis said by phone after Thursday’s win,

VU’s 13th in a row and 25th in its last 26 games..

Junior guard Lacey Mills had 11 points, including all three

Vanguard three-pointers, while freshman Lacey Burns chipped in 10

points and 12 boards.

Rachel Besse, a 6-3 All-GSAC freshman center, had 13 rebounds,

while GSAC Player of the Year Lisa Faulkner had seven points and six

assists.

Davis said freshman Lindsay McClellan sustained a probable

concussion in a collision Thursday and is not likely to play today.

The 30 wins is single-season record for the Lions, whose 30

turnovers Thursday were 18 more than their average.

“Our girls are so mad,” Davis said. “We’ll be hungry to play

again.”

Burns made 8 of 9 free throws and Faulkner hit 7 of 8 as Vanguard

converted 34 of 42 from the line (76.9%).

St. Xavier (26-10) committed 31 fouls to Vanguard’s 11 and shot

just 25.4% from the field.

Oklahoma Christian is led by sophomore guard Lauren Decker (15.9

points per game), as well as 6-1 freshman Katie Fariss (11.2) and

5-11 sophomore Tasha Turney (10.8).

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NAIA Division I tournament

First round

Vanguard 63, St. Xavier 51

St. Xavier -- Brown 12, Belmonte 1, Cain 6, DiMaggio 12, Merkell 9, Nelson 6, Engleman 5. 3-pt. goals -- Nelson 2, Engleman 1, Brown 1, DiMaggio 1. Fouled out -- Belmonte, Merkell. Technicals -- None. Vanguard -- Schmidt 27, Burns 10, Besse 4, Mills 11,

Faulkner 7, McClellan 4. 3-pt. goals -- Mills 3. Fouled out -- None. Technicals -- None. Halftime -- St. Xavier, 24-22.

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