Box Score BOX SCORE

JACKSON, Tenn. – The eighth-ranked Westminster women's basketball team survived an upset scare from Rogers State in the first round of the 2011 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship Wednesday in Oman Arena. The second-seeded Griffins held on for a 60-56 win over seventh-seeded Rogers State.

“I am proud of the effort we gave tonight,” head coach JD Gustin said. “We really worked hard a gutted this one out.”

Westminster (27-6) trailed 27-23 at the intermission and shot just 33.3% from the field in the first half. The Griffins would eventually tie the game at 35-35 with 12:25 to play in the second half. They wouldn't take a lead in the second half until Brooke Larsen scored with 8:02 remaining to make it 43-41 in favor of Westminster.

There would be two more ties over the next four minutes. Larsen would make a three with 3:36 to play that gave Westminster a 49-46 lead. Westminster would make 9-of-13 free throws down the stretch including two by Dani Evans with 1.7 on the clock to set the final score at 60-56.

Westminster finished the game shooting 38.3% form the floor in the school's first win over a team from the Sooner Athletic Conference. Westminster outrebounded Roger State 44-38 despite giving up 16 offensive rebounds. Westminster took just 47 shots to 70 from the opposition.

“Rogers State is a fantastic team that deserved better than a seven seed,” Gustin said of Wednesday's opponent. “It was huge of our team to step up and get this win.”

Larsen led the way for Westminster with 15 points off the bench. She shot 5-of-11 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Michelle Pace added 13 points and eight rebounds. Nicole Yazzie and Evans scored 12 and 10 points respectively. Dana Bates added a team-best nine rebounds while Yazzie finished with five assists.

Cortney Crockett led Rogers State (23-10) with 21 points on 9-of-22 shooting. Andrea Miles added 12 points with Logan Froese collecting 10 rebounds. The Hillcats committed just seven turnovers while force Westminster into 19.

Westminster will now wait for the winner of No. 3 seed Biola and No. 6 seed William Woods. That game will be played at 8:45 p.m. tonight. The next Westminster game will be played at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.