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Terre Haute

Coverage of the women's
NCAA Tournament

2002 season

Pacific Lutheran 62, Chapman 54

STEVENS POINT, Wis. — Just when Pacific Lutheran coach Gil Rigell may have started thinking about clearing his bench, the Chapman University women's basketball team made sure the Lutes played a full 40 minutes.

The Lutes had a 20-point second half lead trimmed to three points in the final two minutes, but held on for a 62-54 victory over Chapman in Friday's NCAA Division III sectional semifinal at Berg Gymnasium.

Pacific Lutheran advances to face UW-Stevens Point, a 71-61 winner over Webster in the second semifinal. The championship game will be Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Lutes roared to a quick start, breaking free from an early 18-10 lead with a 16-1 run that put them ahead 32-11 with four minutes left in the first half and 33-18 at halftime. Pacific Lutheran hit six of its first seven shot attempts during the spurt.

The Lutes opened the second half just as hot, extending the lead to 52-32 with 12 minutes left as senior Jamie Keatts hit four consecutive 3-pointers and scored 14 of her team-high 18 points in the second half.

"I've been known to get a little tense and shortchange my shot," Keatts said. "But I said 'Just settle down and shoot the ball.' If the opportunity presents itself, I'm going to shoot the ball."

Trailing by 20, the Panthers missed their next six shots, but still climbed back in the game, primarily behind nine points from Melissa Bynon during a 22-5 run that cut the lead to 57-54 with 1:43 left. After Katy Barstow's jumped pulled Chapman to within three points, the Lutes got a key basket from Aundi Kustura to pull back ahead by five and then forced a turnover and hit free throws to seal the win.

"They made a great run in the second half," Rigell said. "I think we got a little bit tired. But, we did the things we needed to finish it out."

"It's really important how we finish out the game," Lutes' senior point guard Jamie Franza said. "I think we kind of got away from what was working for us. We got on our heels a little bit and lost our intensity."

Chapman was led by Bynon's 19 points and finished its season at 23-5, making its first-ever sectional appearance.

"This team has stuck together and persevered," Panthers' coach Mary Hegarty said. "I'm proud of the way we conducted ourselves all year."

Pacific Lutheran is now 23-3 overall and will make its second Elite Eight appearance in four years. The Lutes lost to St. Benedict 61-55 in their only other appearance in 1999.

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