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Press Release

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HOLLAND, Mich. — Messiah (Pa.) College used a explosive inside-outside
combination to build up a 22-point first half lead and never looked
back Friday night as the Falcons defeated Oglethrope (Ga.) University,
80-60, to advance to the championship game of the NCAA Division III
women's basketball tournament at DeVos Fieldhouse.

Five players scored in double figures for the Falcons (30-2), who
advanced to Saturday's 5 p.m. championship game to face the winner of
Friday's second semifinal contest between Howard Payne (Texas)
University (31-0) and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (28-3).

"We're thrilled with how we played, took care of the basketball and
shot the ball," Falcons' coach Mike Miller said. "We can play just
about any style, and it showed tonight."

Oglethorpe (27-6), the champions of the Southern
Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament, led the first 4 ½ minutes
of the game, but Messiah used the outside shooting of Lauren Schurr
and the inside play of All-American Nikki Lobach and Silalei Shani to
run off 15 straight points to take a 24-10 lead seven minutes into the
game.

Shooting 56 percent from the field in the first half,
Messiah built a 44-22 lead with five minutes remaining in the half and
led 51-33 at halftime. The Stormy Petrels got no closer than 14 points
in the second half.

"They took us out of our game. They put a lot of
pressure on our shooters," Oglethorpe coach Ron Sattele said.

Shani led the Falcons with 16 points, while Schurr hit
four 3-pointers in adding 14 points. Tina Grace led Oglethrope, which
was making its first Final Four appearance in school history, with 21
points.

It's the second time Messiah, the champions of the MAC Commonwealth
Conference, has advanced to the championship game. The Falcons fell
to Washington (Mo.) University 67-45 in the 2001 finals in Danbury,
Conn.

Press release submitted by on Mar 22 2008 at 02:45 AM

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East	M	W
Atlantic	M	W
Middle Atlantic	M	W
South	M	W
Great Lakes	M	W
Midwest	M
Central		W
West	M	W

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