Posting Up - Scoreboard - Top 25 - Features - Notables - Team of the Week - Live Audio

Terre Haute

Coverage of the women's
NCAA Tournament

2002 season

Pacific Lutheran 60, St. Benedict 54

TACOMA, Wash. — Seniors Becky Franza and Jessica Iserman had big games for Pacific Lutheran as the Lutes defeated the visiting Saint Benedict Blazers, 60-54, on Saturday night in a second round game of the NCAA Division III women's basketball championship tournament.

The victory sends the Lutes (22-3) to the Round of 16 in the national tournament next Friday and Saturday at a site to be announced on Sunday afternoon. For Saint Benedict, the season comes to an end with a 24-5 record.

Pacific Lutheran earned a measure of revenge in beating the Blazers, who defeated Pacific Lutheran in 1999 by a similar score, 61-55, in an Elite Eight game played in St. Joseph, Minn. That year, Saint Benedict went on to finish as national runner-up.

Two of the key figures for the Lutes three seasons ago were Franza and Iserman, then just freshmen, and it was their play that carried the Lutes on this night. Franza, a point guard, scored 20 points, dished out four assists and turned the ball over just two times while playing all 40 minutes. Perhaps more importantly, she shut held Saint Benedict's leading scorer, Michelle Barlau, to just seven points, nine below her average. Iserman, a center, had a monster game on the boards with 15 rebounds, including 12 on the defensive end. She added 12 points, and like Franza played all 40 minutes.

The game was closely contested throughout with the Lutes ahead at the half 28-26 after leading by as many as five points in the opening 20 minutes. Blazers center Kim Johnson kept her team in the game in the opening stanza with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Johnson was less of a factor in the second half, however, as the Lutes did a better job of keeping the 6-4 freshman off the boards. Johnson still finished the game with 23 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. Forward Danni Hannon was the only other Blazer in double figures with 10 points.

Pacific Lutheran never trailed in the second half and took a 42-34 lead on Iserman's rebound basket with 10:24 remaining. Freshman Shannon Hayes, a starter who was averaging just 2.6 points per game this year, scored the first five points of the half for the Lutes and finished with 10 points.

The Lutes still held a seven-point lead, 50-43, with 5:53 left when the Blazers went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 50-all with 3:30 remaining. Ashley Brown hit a pair of free throws and a jump shot to highlight the spurt. Pacific Lutheran responded with six unanswered points of its own, however, with forward Hilary Berg scoring four of the six points that she would get in the game. Berg's layup put the Lutes on top, 56-50, with 1:39 left, and the hosts would never lead by less than four points the rest of the way as first Franza and then Jamie Keatts hit a pair of free throws.

Pacific Lutheran, ranked seventh among Division III schools in scoring defense at 49.6 points per game, shut down the Blazers offense, which came into the game ranked sixth in scoring per game with 78.4 points per contest. The Blazers hit just 18-for-57 from the field (32%) including 3-for-17 from beyond the 3-point line (18%). Pacific Lutheran finished the game 20-for-51 from the floor (39%),
including 6-for-14 from 3-point range (43%). In addition, the undersized Lutes owned a 40-37 rebound edge.

Contact Us
About us
Feedback
Privacy Policy
Send Game Scores
Send Press Releases
Team of Week Nominations
User Survey