Nail-biters highlight women’s semifinals

By Blake Hempstead and Bill Foley - 03/04/2006

A pair of three-point games determined the participants in Saturday’s title tilt of the women’s portion of the Frontier Conference tournament, which is dedicated to the memory of Ron “Swede” Kenison.

No. 11-ranked Carroll College beat No. 9-ranked Lewis-Clark State, while No. 8-ranked Montana-Western beat No. 24 MSU-Northern.

The championship game will be Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Maroon Activities Center.

Montana-Western 74, MSU-Northern 71 The University of Montana-Western punched its ticket to the championship, holding off the upset-minded Skylights of Montana State-Northern.

Northern was down by as many as 11 points in the second half, but found itself trailing by one 72-71, with 1 minute, 15 seconds left and the ball in the hands of sharpshooting senior Jacy Heny. Heny drove the lane, only to have the attempt rim out. Western junior Crystal Kain corralled the rebound and was fouled immediately. Kain knocked both shots from the line, extending the lead to 74-71.

With 20.5 seconds remaining, the Skylights failed to get a good look for the tie. Junior Jena Heggum’s trey at the horn was well short, allowing the NAIA No. 8-ranked Bulldogs to escape with the victory.

“We had the ball with the chance to take the lead at the end See NAIL-BITERS, Page B5 and didn’t get it done,” said Northern head coach Chris Mouat. “We also had some bad defensive stretches where (Western) whipped us on the offensive boards.” Western outrebounded Northern 44-39, led by junior’s Katherine Sunwall’s 15 points and Becky O’Neil’s 14.

The Bulldogs opened the largest lead of the game in the first half after Billi Suhr made two free throws at the 11:46 mark in the first half. She was 5-for-5 from the line on the night. Despite the hot shooting of Suhr, Western held only a slim edge going into the half, 39-36.

The second half saw Northern limit the outside shooting of Western, playing mostly zone. Sunwall (15 points) and O’Neil (16 points) took advantage of the zone, scoring 19 of their combined 27 points after the intermission.

Western played more zone in the second half as well, trying to protect the foul trouble of Sunwall.

We went to the zone to limit (Northern’s) penetration in the second half, said Western head coach Kevin Engellant. “Heny is so good drawing fouls with her drive. (Heny) almost beat us there at the end.” For Northern, Heny ended with 25 points on 7-of-20 shooting. Junior post DeLayne Johnston added 14 to go along sophomore Ashley Trulock’s 10.

Western had four players in double digits — Suhr with 25 points, O’Neil 15, Sunwall 14 and Kain 11.

The Bulldogs now face Carroll College in the championship on Saturday Night at the MAC. Western swept the season series against the Lady Saints. Northern, ranked 24th in NAIA Division I, is 19-9 and will be waiting to hear about a potential at-large bid to the national tournament.

MSU-NORTHERN (19-9) DeLayne Johnston 4-12 6-8 14, Jena Heggem 3-7 0-0 9, Michele VanDyke 3-8 0-2 6, Camille Gardner 3-7 7, Jaci Heny 7-20 7-10 23, Neesha Bravard 1-2 0-0 2, Mandee Carroll 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Trulock 3-7 4-4 10. Totals 24-63 17-24 71.

UM-WESTERN (28-5) Becky O’Neil 5-15 6-8 16, Katherine Sunwall 7-14 1-2 15, Crystal Kain 4-8 2-2 11, Megan Schmitz 1-7 2-2 5, Billi Suhr 7-14 5-5 25, Lindsey Scott 0-2 0-2 0, Laura Shea 0-1 0-0 0, Jennell Day 0-1 2-2 2, Genna Rucker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 18-21 74.

3-point goals — MSUN 6-15 (Heggem 3-5, Gardner 1-2, Heny 2-7, Bravard 0-1), UMW 8-23 (Kain 1-4, Schmitz 1-5, Suhr 6-11, Scott 0-2, Shea 0-1). Rebounds — MSUN 39 (Gardner 9, VanDyke 6, Trulock 5, Johsnton 5), UMW 44 (Sunwall 15, O’Neil 13). Assists — MSUN 11 (Gardner 7), UMW 14 (Schmitz 3, Sunwall 3, three tied with 2). Turnovers — MSUN 16, UMW 20. Total Fouls — MSUN 16 (Johnston 4, Heny 4), UMW 19 (Sunwall 5, O’Neil 4). Fouled Out — Sunwall (UMW). Technicals — None.

Carroll College 86, Lewis-Clark State 83 Thanks to Carly Syverson, Carroll College had that warm and fuzzy feeling Friday afternoon.

The senior point guard from Sunnyside, Wash., drilled a base-line 3-pointer with 13.7 seconds left in the game to give the saints the three-point win and the spot in Saturday’s title tile.

Also, Syverson saved the Saints from a total collapse as the bucket came second after Lewis-Clark State fought all the way back from a 16-point deficit to knot the game at 83.

“Sometimes in basketball you don’t think, you react,” Syverson said. “That’s exactly what I did.” The Saints called a time out with 17.7 seconds left on the clock — 10 on the shot clock — and looked to get an inside bucket from Sophi Forney, a 6-foot-1 junior post. But Forney kicked the ball out to Syverson for the game-winner.

“She had a rhythm look and knocked it down,” Carroll coach Shawn Nelson said.

L-C sophomore Jade Fulbright got off a game-tying three at the buzzer, but she had two defenders in her face and the shot didn’t come close.

Three quarters through the second half, the game didn’t have the makings of a drama.

Senior Andrea Hall, who led four Saints in double figures with 21 points, sank two free throws with 5;40 left in the game to put the Saints up by 16 points at 74-58.

But, sparked by Bulgarian junior Katya Yancheva, the Warriors pressed all-out and stole the momentum.

Junior Janeen Nelson sank a 3-pointer to tie the game at 83 with 38.1 seconds left to cap the improbable run.

“We kind of fell asleep,” Nelson said.

While Syverson’s hoop was the game-winner, it was a pair of offensive rebounds — by senior Emili Woody and Hall — that led to points that woke up the Saints.

“Those were amazing — off our own free throws,” Syverson said. “Those were definitely big-time.” Woody’s board came after Syverson made the first of two from the free throw line to halt a 10-0 L-C State run to make it a 77-72 lead with 2:53 left in the game. Woody dished the ball out to sophomore Jolene Fuzesy for a 3-pointer.

“I got tingles throughout my body when she hit that,” Syverson said.

Woody scored 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds for the Saints, while Syverson and Fuzesy both added 10 points.

Junior post Andrea Morrison had a monster game for the Warriors, tossing in 28 points.

Fulbright added 19 and Yancheva scored all of her 12 in the second half.

CARROLL COLLEGE (27-5) Emili Woody 5-7 6-7 16, Sophi Forney 2-3 3-4 7, Carly Syverson 3-9 2-2 10, Jolene Fuzesy 3-7 2-2 10, Andrea Hall 5-9 8-9 21, Danielle Maloney 3-5 2-2 9, Tiffany Rochelle 1-1 0-0 2, Megan Kane 0-0 0-0 0, Amy Brooks 1-1 4-4 6, Rodgers 2-4 1-1 5. Totals 25-46 28-31 86.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (26-6) Katie Hart 1-4 2-4 4, Jade Fulbright 9-14 1-2 19, Ashley Baker 1-6 2-6 4, Cami Kalbfleisch 2-8 0-0 5, Andrea Morrison 10-15 8-10 28, Teri Wittmer 2-2 0-0 4, Kim Preston 0-0 0-0 0, Katya Yancheva 5-6 1-1 12, Janeen Nelson 2-4 0-0 5, Vanessa West 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 33-61 14-23 83.

Halftime — Carroll 38, Lewis-Clark 36. 3-point goals — Carroll 8-18 (Hall 3-6, Syverson 2-4, Fuzesy 2-6, Maloney 1-1, Woody 0-1), LC State 3-11 (Yancheva 1-2, Nelson 1-2, Kalbfleisch 1-5, Hart 0-1, Fulbright 0-1). Rebounds — Carroll 30 (Woody 7), LC State 26 (Fulbright, Morrison 5). Assists — Carroll 11 (Syverson 4), LC State 11 (Hart 5). Blocks — Carroll 1 (Kane), LC State 2 (Kalbfleisch, yancheva). Total fouls — Carroll 18, LC State 24. Foul out — none. Technicals — none.