INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (Women's Basketball) – Five was the magic number for the Shawnee State women's basketball team Wednesday afternoon at the Independence Events Center.
In a 69-57 victory over No. 15 The Master's College, the Bears improved to 5-0 in opening round games at the NAIA Division I National Championship. The squad also moved to 5-0 in its last five games, including a pair of victories over ranked opponents.
The Bears now move on to face the winner of the No. 1 vs. No. 8 matchup featuring reigning national champion and nationally-ranked No. 2 Oklahoma City. The Stars take on eight-seed Lewis-Clark State College.
Shawnee State landed three players in double-figures – including a game-high 19 points from Ashley McMurtrey (FR/Louisville, Ky.) – as the Bears never trailed in route to the opening round victory Wednesday. Shawnee shot 43.3 percent (26-of-60) from the field while connecting on 6-of-12 from behind the arc.
McMurtrey's 19 led a balanced attack, as Shavon Robinson (SR/Canton, Ohio) tacked on 17 points and Abby Feuchter (JR/Cincinnati, Ohio) added 16. Tabby McKinney (SR/Canton, Ohio) grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to go with five points.
The Bears jumped out to a three-point advantage with a triple from McMurtrey in the opening minute and never looked back. Tied at five, SSU rattled off a 7-0 spurt with another triple from the freshman, and back-to-back buckets off steals from McKinney and Robinson.
With five minutes remaining in the first half, Fuechter raced to the hole, completing an old-fashioned three-point play to make it, 23-13 – the first time SSU led by double figures. A layup from Rebecca Bruner (SR/Springfield, Ohio) on an offensive board with 4:52 to play made it a 12-point game.
The lead hovered around the 10-point mark for the remainder of the half, and Robinson connected for two with 40 seconds to play to send the Bears into the locker room, leading, 36-24.SSU forced 11 turnovers in the opening period, while holding the Lady Mustangs to just 30.4 percent shooting from the field.
The Master's was not content to go quietly cutting the deficit to five in the first six minutes of the half, when Chayan Lowery connected to make it 40-35. Bianca Cubello made it a three point game at the 11:20 mark, the closest the score had been in nearly 22 minutes. Cubello finished with a team-high 14 points in the game.
At the 7:44 mark, Whitney Best brought the game even closer for the Lady Mustangs, hitting a bucket to make it 50-49. From there, Shawnee State turned on the afterburners, heading off on a 10-2 run to push the lead back to nine with just 4:31 to play.
Robinson and Feuchter put the game on ice in the closing minutes, connecting on 5-of-6 from the charity stripe, as the squad rebuilt the lead to 12. SSU was 11-of-14 from the free throw line in the game.
The Bears are slated to tip-off Friday versus Oklahoma City or Lewis-Clark State at 10:45 CT at the Independence Events Center.
