[Box Score]
NASHVILLE - On Friday night, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament tipped off on the campus of top seed Trevecca Nazarene University. Before the home team took the floor, #3 seed Cedarville University faced off against #2 Urbana University.
In the regular-season, the two teams split victories each time winning on the road. On a neutral floor, Urbana utilized two runs to grab early leads in each half. However, Cedarville would rally, but it wasn’t enough as the Blue Knights held on for the 74-71 win and earning a trip the G-MAC Championship Finals on Saturday.
In the first half, Urbana built a 12 point lead through the first ten minutes at 25-13. Cedarville responded with a 8-0 run of its own too close to within four, and the Lady Jackets continued the rally trying the game three separate times before DeVonyea Johnson hit a big three-pointer with 44 second left to give Urbana its 38-35 lead at halftime.
Similar to the first half, UU built a sizeable lead as they started on a 14-3 run to hold its largest lead of the game, 52-38. Once again, Cedarville battled its way back with an immediate 11-0 run to close the lead back to three at 52-49. The teams traded buckets and leads, as the lead changed hands nine times - including five ties.
With under three minutes, Cedarville took a one-point lead on a bucket by Kayla Linkous at 71-70. Urbana responded quickly with a lay-up by Johnson to take the 72-71 lead, a lead they would not relinquish. G-MAC Player of the Year Ciara Geiger gave the Blue Knights some room with a bucket with 1:31 remaining, though the bucket turned out to be the final points of the game as Urbana shut the door on the 74-71 win.
Johnson led the Blue Knights and all scorers with a game-high 22 points. Geiger scored 18, while Katy Barkley and Jessica Saffold joined Johnson and Geiger in double-figures with 12 and 10 points respectively. Saffold recorded the games only double-double with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
For Cedarville, Linkous scored a team-high 17 points, while Deborah Chandler and Kayla Jenerette scored 13 and 12 points respectively. Raegan Ryan scored seven and handed out a game-high seven assists in the loss.
Urbana advances to the finals, where they will face the winner of the second semifinal - either #1 seed Trevecca Nazarene University or #4 Central State University.