Wartburg Women One Win From NCAA Final Four Berth
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