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Northwestern's Kendra de jong defends as College of the Ozarks' Morgan Hickley shoots during the NAIA national championship basketball game at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, Tuesday . / Jim Lee/Sioux City Journal SIOUX CITY, ...
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SIOUX CITY, Iowa – One of these years, maybe College of the Ozarks women's basketball will...- 12:04 am Spaces Food Outdoors Health Religion Events Calendar Announcements Comics Genealogy OzarksMoms.
Buy Tickets SIOUX CITY, Iowa – One of these years, maybe College of the Ozarks women’s basketball will experience all the spoils of a national championship. They’ve come close so many times.
But No. 8 Northwesten College (Iowa) made NAIA Division II women's basketball history Tuesday night in winning a third consecutive national championship, a 75-62 win against third-ranked Lady Bobcats.
“They just outplayed us,” C of O coach George Wilson said. “They outrebounded us, outshot us and outdefended us. We just didn't play as well tonight.
Hard-luck C of O (32-4) lost in a final for the fourth time. The previous three came in successive seasons from 2006-08. The loss also ended a 24-game win streak.
College of the Ozarks featured several former Springfield-area high school standouts. Morgan Smith and Emily Walker are from Nixa, and Morgan Hickey (Blue Eye), Miranda Vaught (Crane), Kelsey Combs (Branson) and Kayla Kepler (Fair Grove) also were key contributors this season.
Smith scored 23 points and hauled down 15 rebounds a night after scoring 30 points in the semifinals, and C of O rallied to within 37-31 at halftime after trailing by 18 points.
Tournament most valuable player Kami Kuhlmann scored 27 points while junior standout Kendra De Jong posted her fifth double-double in as many national tournament games with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Northwestern extended its all-time record to 15 straight national tourney wins. The Red Raiders also hold the record for most overall victories with 39.
“I’m so proud of all my teammates,” said Kuhlmann, a senior guard who finished among tournament scorers with 112 points. “I really believe we had the best team and not because we are good basketball players, but because we are a bunch of great girls. And I wouldn't want to share this with anybody else besides these girls.”
Kuhlmann is part of a Northwestern senior class that finished with a combined national tournament record of 18-1 the past four years. The Red Raiders’ last loss was to Morningside, 63-58, in a 2009 semifinal.
“Everybody is so tired, but we just pushed through and finished the second half. We trust each other so much and that's why we won,” De Jong said.
De Jong reached her fifth double-double with a rebound at the 3:56 mark. That came during a three-minute C of O drought that allowed the Red Raiders to pull away.
The Lady Bobcats, though, were never able to take the lead. It was still a five-point game at 64-59 when Vaught scored with 4:58 left, but C of O didn’t score again until there was 1:49 left and by that time trailed by 10 points.
This was C of O’s first loss to an NAIA Division II team this season; the others were all to three coming to NAIA Division I schools that were ranked at the time.
“I think the seniors can be proud of the season we had,” Smith said. “We showed a lot of heart, but couldn't hit the shots tonight. We played scared.”
The Red Raiders were No. 1 in the preseason poll, but thanks to the slow start, weren't even included in the first regular season ratings.
“It was a tremendous tournament, the way the girls played together, with different girls rising to the occasion and filling in their roles they were asked to fill in,” said Yaw. “A couple of leaders – Kami and Kendra – who have led us all year, really rose to the top.”
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – One of these years, maybe College of the Ozarks women's basketball will experience all the spoils of a national championship. They've come close so many times. But No.