Lawrence Reporter

Cac Women's Basketball Championship Recap

Iowa Wesleyan University has captured its second straight Continental Athletic Conference women's basketball championship, this time defeating Haskell Indian Nations University 64-59 Sunday afternoon in a three-day tournament played on Haskell Indian Nations' home court in Lawrence, Kansas.

Iowa Wesleyan, the tournament's top seed, opened strong with Isabell West's layup five minutes into the game setting the stage for the team to score the first 12 points of the contest.

That set the stage for a game with several offensive runs.

In fact, the Fightin' Indians answered Iowa Wesleyan's strong start by outscoring the Tigers 11-3 over the next four minutes. A three-point play by Justine Butterfield brought the team within four points, 15-11, with 1:43 left in the opening quarter.

Iowa Wesleyan's lead grew back to double-digits, at 26-16, following West's layup at the 6:42 mark of the first half. But that's when Haskell Indian Nations cut the deficit to 27-26 after a pair of free throws from Butterfield and a 3-pointer by Mahpiya Irving with 4:17 remaining.

The Tigers closed the second quarter on a 10-2 run to enjoy a 37-28 halftime advantage.

The tournament hosts took their first lead of the contest when Miracle Spotted Bear drained a 3-point field goal for a 45-44 lead with 1:41 left in the third quarter. The lead changed hands numerous times early in the fourth quarter. A 3-pointer by Breanna Wendland gave the Tigers a 53-51 lead with 5:45 left in the contest and back-to-back layups by West widened the gap to six points, 57-51, at the 4:15 mark.

Haskell Indian Nations could only get within three points, 57-54, after a 3-point field goal by Irving with 3:18 remaining.

West led the Tigers with 25 points and 12 rebounds in the victory. Kyla Moore added 14 points and Wendland had 11 points.

Meanwhile, Spotted Bear scored 20 points and Irving chipped in 13 points in a valiant four-quarter effort. Butterfield came off the bench to score 12 points. The Fightin' Indians connected on 10 3-point field goals in the contest.

As the CAC's finalists, both teams now will represent the league in the NAIA national tournament.

Original source can be found here.