{"id":54244,"date":"2020-03-05T14:22:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T20:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=54244"},"modified":"2020-03-05T22:36:12","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T04:36:12","slug":"day-2-miaa-tournament-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=54244","title":{"rendered":"Day 2: MIAA tournament recap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KANSAS CITY, Mo. \u2013 The quarterfinals of the MIAA tournament\nat Municipal Auditorium began with a  close call for the top-seeded team in the\nwomen\u2019s bracket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central Missouri, the MIAA regular-season champ and current\nNo. 1 team in the region rankings, overcame a sluggish start offensively to\nescape with a 65-61 victory over Washburn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jennies became the first team to reach the semifinals\nSaturday and will play the winner of the noon Friday quarterfinal battle between\nFort Hays State and Pitt State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That semifinal is set for noon Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WOMEN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central Missouri 65, Washburn 61<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ichabods (18-12) gave the No. 15 team in the latest NCAA\nDII poll everything it could handle in Thursday\u2019s first game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washburn led 16-14 after the first quarter and 28-27 at\nhalftime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A big reason for that was the play of senior Alexis McAfee,\nwho had 12 points and six rebounds at the break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Central Missouri (25-4) scored nine straight points, the\nrun ending with 3:21 to play in the third quarter to build an eight-point\nadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washburn\u2019s Reagan Phelan answered with back-to-back\n3-pointers to pull the Ichabods within two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jennies would take a 50-46 lead into the final period\nafter Morgan Fleming hit a jumper right before the horn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McAfee fouled out in the fourth quarter, finishing with 19\npoints, eight rebounds and two blocks in her final game. That gave the Ichabods\none less offensive threat, and Central Missouri took advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jennies hit just enough free throws down the stretch to\nsurvive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fleming led UCM with 20 points and six rebounds, and Megan Skaggs \u2013 the conference player of the year \u2013 added 15 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Kim Crown also hit double figures with 10 points and went 6 of 8 from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phelan finished with 16 points for Washburn, and Hunter\nBentley added 10 points and nine rebounds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jennies struggled from long range, hitting only 1 of 20 attempts from beyond the arc. Washburn was 7 of 14 from deep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emporia State 80, NW Missouri State 52<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A day after pulling off an upset, Northwest Missouri State didn\u2019t\nstand a chance of another one against the No. 2-seeded Hornets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emporia State (23-6) looked every bit the role of a top seed\nin the tourney by rolling out to a 21-9 lead after the first quarter thanks to\n10 points from MIAA Freshman of the Year Tre\u2019Zure Jobe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That comfort margin would prove to be all the Hornets needed\nto win their fourth straight game and ninth in the last 10 outings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northwest Missouri (12-18) was outscored every quarter by\nthe Hornets and trailed 38-25 at halftime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The duo of Mollie Mounsey and Jobe combined for 54 points,\ntwo more than the Bearcats had total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mounsey finished with 30 points, eight rebounds and three\nassists to lead the way, and Jobe added 24 points, five rebounds and six\nassists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emporia State also got double figures from Morgan Laudan\n(11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northwest Missouri State was paced by Paityn Rau, who had 12\npoints and seven rebounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hornets move on to Saturday\u2019s 2:15 p.m. semifinal against either Nebraska-Kearney or Missouri Western. That quarterfinal contest is set for 2:15 p.m. Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MEN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NW Missouri State 75, Lincoln 54<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just how solid are the Bearcats? Well, the recently\nannounced defensive player of the year in the conference dominated Lincoln for\n31 points \u2013 including 21 in the first half \u2013 in a 21-point victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northwest Missouri State (29-1) broke open an eight-point\ngame at the break with 42 points in the second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan Hawkins played 37 minutes, tallied 31 points on 11 of\n17 shooting, pulled down nine rebounds and had three assists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was one of three players to score in double figures for\nthe Bearcats, the defending DII national champs. Trevor Hudgins, the conference\u2019s\nplayer of the year, and Diego Bernard added 14 points each as Northwest\nMissouri State shot 58% from the field for the game \u2013 including 48% from\n3-point range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marcus Cohen was the only Blue Tiger to hit double figures\nwith 10 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 21-point win matched Northwest Missouri State\u2019s average\nmargin of victory per game this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bearcats will play in Saturday\u2019s 6 p.m. semifinal against either Missouri Western or Washburn. That quarterfinal game is set for 6 p.m. Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rogers State 71, Pitt State 69<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gorillas nearly made a last-second shot to force\novertime, but the ball rimmed out and the Hillcats escaped a close call as the\nNo. 2 seed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pitt State kept the game close most of the way, trailing\nonly 38-33 at halftime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marques Sumner led Rogers State (24-5) with 19 points, and Brewster\nPeacock added 11. Tavian Davis chipped in 10 as the Hillcats won their sixth in\na row and 13th<\/sup> in the last 14 games while holding down the No. 15\nranking in the latest DII poll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pitt State (12-18) was led by Marcel Cherry with 15 points,\nand A.J. Walker and Jah-Kobe Womack each had 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rogers State will play either Missouri Southern or Northeastern\nState in the semifinals at 8:15 p.m. Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n