The Wartburg women's basketball team is making the most of its somewhat unexpected selection into the Division-III NCAA Tournament. The Knights are one win away from a trip to the Final Four.

Unranked Wartburg (22-7 overall) advanced to the Elite Eight for the fourth time in program history after upsetting No. 8 St. Thomas, 70-66, on the Titans' home court in St. Paul, Minn., Friday night (March 11, 2016).

The win was the second for the Knights over a ranked team in the past seven days -- both on the road. The victory halted St. Thomas' 16-game winning streak.

Friday's game featured four ties and 12 lead changes, but Wartburg used a game-closing 12-7 run over the final four minutes to secure a berth in the regional championship game. The Titans out-rebounded the Knights 31-22, but they were hurt by 21 turnovers.

Both teams shot 50-percent from the floor. Wartburg was 10-of-19 from the behind the arc.

The Knights got double-digit scoring from five players, led by Katie Sommer's 13 points. Sommer (Cedar Rapids) set a new single-season school record in assists (123) with her three on the night. The old mark of 122 was set by LeAnn Bollum in the 1981-82 season.

Sommer's twin sister Kristie tallied 12 points for Wartburg. Classmate Aryn Jones (Marion) followed with 11, and sophomores Morgan Neuendorf (Shell Rock) and Miranda Murphy (Alleman) each had 10.

UP NEXT: A trip to the Final Four is at stake as Wartburg faces No. 5 Texas-Tyler (30-1) in St. Paul, Minn., at 7 p.m. Saturday (March 12). An at-large selection into the NCAA Tournament, the Knights enter the regional championship against the Patriots having won nine of their last 10 games.



Wartburg vs St. Thomas
3/11/16 8 p.m. at UST/St.Paul

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VISITORS: Wartburg 22-7
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
21 Sommer, Kristie..... f  4-8    2-4    2-2    0  1  1   2  12  2  1  0  0  35
34 Murphy, Miranda..... f  3-5    1-2    3-3    1  2  3   1  10  5  2  0  1  34
20 Jones, Aryn......... c  5-8    0-0    1-1    1  3  4   5  11  0  4  0  1  21
03 Burrows, Bobbie..... g  2-6    2-5    0-2    1  4  5   1   6  3  1  0  2  22
11 Sommer, Katie....... g  5-10   3-5    0-1    0  1  1   2  13  3  1  0  1  39
12 Neuendorf, Morgan...    3-5    2-2    2-2    1  3  4   0  10  1  3  0  2  25
40 Kladivo, Kailey.....    3-9    0-1    0-2    2  2  4   4   6  2  2  0  0  18
42 Haupert, Abbie......    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   2  0  0  0  0   6
   TEAM................
   Totals..............   26-52  10-19   8-13   6 16 22  15  70 16 14  0  7 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-23 52.2%   2nd Half: 14-29 48.3%   Game: 50.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-7  71.4%   2nd Half:  5-12 41.7%   Game: 52.6%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  0-2   0.0%   2nd Half:  8-11 72.7%   Game: 61.5%    2


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HOME TEAM: St. Thomas 26-4
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
34 Lauren Fischer...... f  1-4    1-3    0-0    1  7  8   4   3  2  3  0  0  34
45 Kaitlin Langer...... c  9-15   0-0    9-11   3  6  9   4  27  2  4  3  1  40
03 Katie Stone......... g  5-13   2-7    0-0    0  1  1   4  12  2  5  0  0  35
10 Lucia Renikoff...... g  2-6    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   3   4  2  3  2  1  26
12 Paige Gernes........ g  5-5    1-1    1-1    0  4  4   1  12  1  5  0  3  30
11 Maddie Wolkow.......    0-2    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0  13
14 Bobbi Brendefur.....    2-2    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   5  0  1  0  0   6
20 Kaylie Brazil.......    1-1    0-0    1-2    1  1  2   1   3  1  0  0  1  10
30 Morganne Gruber.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   0  1  0  0  0   6
   TEAM................                         3     3
   Totals..............   25-48   5-15  11-14   8 23 31  18  66 11 21  5  6 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-22 68.2%   2nd Half: 10-26 38.5%   Game: 52.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-5  40.0%   2nd Half:  3-10 30.0%   Game: 33.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-1  100 %   2nd Half: 10-13 76.9%   Game: 78.6%    2


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Officials: Phil Streit, Steve Vekich, Joe Guidarelli
Technical fouls: Wartburg-None. St. Thomas-None.
Attendance: 695
Score by Periods                1st  2nd  3rd  4th   Total
Wartburg......................   19   10   19   22  -   70
St. Thomas....................   15   18   16   17  -   66

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