GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—Four Griffins scored in double-digits to defeat Black Hills State, 74-65, in the first round of the of the NCAA Women's Basketball DII Championship.
Hunter Krebs led the Griffins with 18 points in the historic win that advanced the Griffins to the second round for the first time and gave Head Coach
Shelley Jarrard her 200th career win.
"It felt like a great team win. Both teams played hard and determined tonight," Head Coach
Shelley Jarrard said."I thought everyone contributed tonight at different points of the game and am happy for our players and our program to get our first NCAA win.
"Wientjes is an amazing player and really kept them in the game."
The Griffins shot 86.7% and scored 28 points in the second quarter to erase a five-point deficit from the first quarter and take a 10-point halftime lead.
Abby Mangum scored six and
Ashley Greenwood scored five points to propel the Griffins into the lead with a 17-4 run.
Westminster suffered a shooting slump after taking its largest lead of the game to start the third quarter. Black Hills made a 17-5 run to take a one-point lead, 54-53, with 43 seconds left to play in the quarter. Mangum scored a pair of free throws to put Westminster back in front.
Racquel Wientjes gave the Yellowjackets their final lead of the game with the opening basket of the fourth quarter. The Griffins went back in front after a pair of
Lyndzi Rich layups and a Mangum three.
Hunter Krebs led the Griffins down the stretch with six points to earn the win.
The Griffins shot 64.4% from the field and made 6-13 from three. They were near perfect making 10-11 from the free throw line.
Krebs led the Griffins with 18 points, shooting 6-9 from the field, 2-3 from beyond the arc and 4-5 from the free throw line. Mangum scored 15 points and led the team with three steals and three blocks. Rich scored 12 points and
Mariah Martin scored 10 and grabbed a team-high seven assists.
Wientjes led all scorers with 23 points, shooting 9-23 from the field, 1-4 from three and 4-4 from the free throw line.
The Griffins move on to face Western Colorado University on Saturday, Mar. 13, at 7 pm. The winner will face Azusa Pacific on Monday at 5 pm.