[Monmouth 88, Cornell 80]

[St. Norbert 69, Carroll 54]

DE PERE, Wis. – St. Norbert and Monmouth brought home semifinal wins in the 2014 Midwest Conference (MWC) Women’s Basketball Tournament and now play for a chance to earn the MWC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Monmouth earned a trip to the tournament finals after defeating 2013 tournament winner Cornell 88-80. Monmouth is looking to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.

The Fighting Scots and Rams played a tight first half that saw Monmouth escape with a two point lead. A total of 27 fouls were called in the first half that resulted in 30 free throw attempts. Cornell had a lead as big as five points but Monmouth took the lead with 2:01 left in the half and never trailed again.

The shooting cooled off in the second half as Cornell hit only eight of its 30 shot attempts including only 4-of-16 from downtown. Monmouth cooled off from its 45% first half only converting on 13-of-33 chances in the second half.

Cornell shot only 37% from the field but out-rebounded Monmouth 45-38 which included 22 offensive rebounds. Rikki Mulloy and Kellie Kuzmanic both led the game with 19 points. Mulloy was a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line while Kuzmanic went 3-for-6 from behind the arc. Taylor Dicus led all players with 15 rebounds and also added nine points.

Monmouth shot 42% from the field but only missed four of its 36 free throw chances. The stingy Fighting Scots defense forced 23 turnovers in the victory. Jacquice Cooper led the way with 19 points and went 13-for-15 from the charity stripe. Kaley Corban scored 16 points and a team-best six rounds while Jasmine Johnson tallied 12 points off the bench.

Monmouth advances to the tournament title game against the winner of St. Norbert and Carroll tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. in De Pere. 

St. Norbert broke open a close game in the second half and cruised to a 69-54 win over Carroll to earn a trip to the finals in the 2014 Women’s Basketball Tournament.

St. Norbert controlled the first half from the onset as they never trailed and led by as many as 10. After a basket at the 2:14 mark to make it 28-10 the Pioneers went on an 8-2 run to end the half and cut the deficit to only four. The St. Norbert defense held Carroll to only 32% shooting and forced 12 turnovers in the first half while shooting 45% themselves.

Carroll fought back right out of the gate in the second half and battled to take its first lead of the game just minutes into the half. The lead went back and forth for until the 10:41 mark when St. Norbert broke the game open with a 14-4 run. The Pioneers couldn’t recover and never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Carroll was led by Malory Christenson and Emily DeNoyer who each had 14 points. Breann Maryanski had a game-high 18 rebounds, including 10 offensive rebounds, to go along with eight points. Carroll shot 31% for the game and 60% from the free throw line.

St. Norbert was led by Heidi Van Sistine with 18 points and eight rebounds. Morgan Heim shot 7-for-11 from the field and finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals. The Green Knights finished the game shooting 53% from the field including going 12-for-18 in the second half.

With the wins St. Norbert and Monmouth play for a chance to move on to the NCAA Tournament. The tournament championship game is set for 6:00 p.m. in De Pere.