Billings, Mont. – Shawnee State women's basketball avoided a first round upset on Thursday night, rallying late to defeat eight seed Grand View (Iowa) 88-82 in the first round of the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Tournament, presented by Wells Fargo.
Ashton Lovely (JR/Jamestown, Ohio) would open the scoring with a long three to open the game, but the Bears and Vikings would battle in a close first quarter. A Blair Silliman three and two free throws by Madison Sickles would give Grand View their first lead at 9-7. Sienna King (FR/Shelby, Ohio) would hit a put-back to tie the game back up, and a Hannah Miller (JR/Coal Grove, Ohio) three-point play would put SSU back up 12-9. Gabby Reyerson would tie the game back up with a three, but Miller would respond with a three of her own to put SSU back in front. Shawnee State would end the first quarter on an 8-2 run, capped by Ashton Lovely's three to give the Bears a 23-18 after the first period.
Grand View would dominate the second quarter to take the lead at the half. Down by two, Blair Silliman would hit a three to give the Vikings a 32-31 lead with 4:12 to go in the period. King would hit again to give Shawnee State the lead back, but another Silliman three would give Grand View back the lead. Kiana Peterson's late shot would push that lead out to five, as Grand View led 42-37 at the break.
Grand View continued to hold Shawnee State away in the third quarter. Jaci Stumpf's mid-range jumper with 6:21 to go gave the Vikings a 52-44 lead, their largest of the game to that point. However, Shawnee State would keep the game close, with Miller making a three to cut the lead to five. SSU would continue to chip away at the lead, with Bailey Cummins (SO/Brooksville, Kentucky) tying the game with a three at 63-63. However, Silliman would convert a three-point play, with her free throw giving Grand View a 70-67 lead entering the fourth quarter.
That play would turn into a 12-2 run as Grand View quickly turned their lead into a double-digit advantage. Sickles would open the third with a lay-in, and Bailey Arnburg would hit a free throw to put Grand View up six. Madison Ridout (SR/Jackson, Ohio) would hit a lay-in to cut the lead back down to four, but Arnburg would convert at the other end to put Grand View back up six. Rachel Danielson would hit a shot, then Sickles would convert two shots at the free throw line to put the Vikings up 79-69 with 7:12 to go.
Shawnee State would then begin the long trudge back into the game. Sienna King would convert in the post to cut the lead back to eight, and Lovely would hit from three to cut the lead to five. After a few empty possessions at both ends, Lovely would convert four free throws to get the lead down to one at 79-78. Madison Ridout would then tie the game with 3:16 to go with a free throw. Ridout would then convert from the line twice with 2:24 to go to give SSU an 81-79 lead.
Silliman would convert at the other end for Grand View to tie the game back up at 81-81 with two minutes to go. Hannah Miller would convert one of two foul shots at the other end to give SSU back a one-point lead, but Kiana Peterson would match her at the other end to tie the game back up. Ridout would miss a wild shot with less than a minute to go, but the Bears would get a stop on the other end. After a timeout with the ball underneath, Bailey Cummins would convert for SSU, receiving the in-bounds pass and rounding Rylee Voss on the mismatch to lay-in and give Shawnee State back the lead. Cummins would then block Jaci Stumpf's lay-up attempt at the other end, and Ashton Lovely would finish the game off with free throws to give Shawnee State the first-round win.
Lovely led all scorers with 25 points for SSU. Madison Ridout added 19, Hannah Miller scored 15, Bailey Cummins had 11 and Sienna King had 10 for the Bears.
Blair Silliman scored 16 points to lead Grand View in the loss. Kiana Peterson and Madison Sickles each had 12 points, and Shaleia Jamison scored 10 for the Vikings.
The win moves Shawnee State to 31-3 on the season, with SSU getting their 26th straight win. Grand View end their season 23-11. Shawnee State moves on to the second round of the NAIA Tournament for the first time since 2016, avoiding a second first round upset in a row. The Bears fell to William Woods (Mo.) in the first round last season.
Shawnee State moves on to play Wayland Baptist (Texas) in the second round on Friday, March 16 at RimRock Auto Arena. Tip-off from Billings is set for 10:00pm Eastern/8:00pm Mountain.
