COLUMBUS, Ohio – IUP women's basketball used an 11-0 third quarter run to break open a close game as the Crimson Hawks used a strong defensive performance for a 73-60 win over Azusa Pacific in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 NCAA Division II Elite Eight at Alumni Hall.
The Crimson Hawks (30-3) advance to the national semifinals for the second straight season where they face the winner of Southwestern Oklahoma State and Saint Anselm Wednesday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.
The 30th victory for the Crimson Hawks tied the single season program record set during last year's Elite Eight run.
The third quarter run by IUP came after Azusa Pacific (28-6) used a 10-0 run of its own to open the half and tie the game at 37-37. The Crimson Hawks had gone into the locker room with a 37-27 lead after the first two quarters.
IUP responded to the tie game with a 3-pointer by
Lauren Wolosik with APU coming back with a layup off a turnover to make it a 40-39 game.
After a layup by
Teirra Preston under the basket, the Crimson Hawks drained three straight 3-pointers, with
Carolyn Appleby,
Courtney Alexander and Wolosik opening up the game to give IUP a 51-39 lead. Alexander made another trey at the end of the quarter to give the Crimson Hawks a 54-41 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes.
Appleby scored a game-high 17 points for IUP, going 5-of-5 from the foul line. Alexander came off the bench to hit three 3-pointer and finish with nine points while Wolosik scored 16 points.
The Cougars did start the fourth with a 6-0 run but IUP quickly regained momentum with a layup-and-one by
Lexi Griggs followed by another 3-pointer by Wolosik. Wolosik had four of IUP's nine 3-pointers in the game, six of those coming in the second half.
Griggs finished with 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting with five rebounds and three assists. She was the main offensive factor in the first half with 13 points at the break.
From there the lead remained in double-figures with the Crimson Hawks converting 8-of-8 free throws in the final 2:27 to help ice the game.
The Crimson Hawks outplayed the longer Azusa Pacific squad on the defensive end, forcing the Cougars into 17 turnovers and a 35.4 field goal percentage. APU entered the game leading Division II with 6.7 blocks per game, but the Crimson Hawks finished with nine blocked shots on the afternoon, including four in the first two possessions of the game two set the tone.
Brittany Robinson tied a season-high with six blocks – all in the first half – and in doing so became IUP's all-time leader in career blocked shots with 187. She now has 13 in four NCAA tournament games this year.
Robinson also finished the game with 11 points and barely missed her third double-double in the last four games with nine rebounds.
Up next
The Crimson Hawks (30-3) will face the Southwestern Oklahoma State/Saint Anselm winner in the national semifinals Wednesday night at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network. Check your local listings.
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_WBB.
