Lady Chaps advance to NCAA regional title game
SAN ANGELO — The Lubbock Christian University women's basketball team is one victory away from another trip to the Elite Eight of the Division II NCAA Tournament, even as a lower seed.
Grace Foster scored 17 points and three teammates also were in double figures as No. 7 seed LCU beat No. 6 seed Black Hills State 66-50 Saturday in the semifinals of the South Central Regional at the Junell Center.
LCU (24-10) will play for the regional title at 7 p.m. Monday against No. 5 seed UT Tyler (26-7), which upset No. 1 seed and host Angelo State 71-61 in the late semifinal. In the lone regular-season meeting, UT Tyler beat LCU 69-57 on Jan. 19 in Tyler.
Junior guards Maci Maddox, Shaylee Stovall and Audrey Robertson scored 13, 13 and 11 points, respectively, for LCU.
Danica Kocer led Black Hills State (23-8) with 14 points, and Kalla Bertram had 13.
The Lady Chaps have advanced to the Elite Eight four times and won three national championships since the program competed in its first NCAA Tournament in 2016. They were a high seed in regional each of those seasons, but started their run this time by upsetting No. 2 seed Texas Woman's in the first round.
Fort Lewis 97, LCU men 65
CANYON — Akuel Kot had 31 points and seven rebounds and No. 2 seed Fort Lewis beat No. 7 seed Lubbock Christian University, ending the Chaparrals' season in the first round of the Division II NCAA Tournament.
Kot, a 6-foot-2 junior from Amarillo Palo Duro, shot 13 of 17 from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range. That set the pace for Fort Lewis (29-3) to shoot 62 percent as a team. Kot scored 23 points in the first half when Fort Lewis built a 49-30 lead.
Russell Harrison scored 25 points in his final college game for LCU (19-12). Rowan Mackenzie was next with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Kurt Wegscheider had 10 points.
Fort Lewis, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champion, will play a South Central Region semifinal at 5 p.m. Sunday against No. 6 seed Black Hills State (26-5), a D-II Final Four team last year.
New Mexico JC 56
SPC women 37
WOLFFORTH — Clemson signee Danna Grenald scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading New Mexico Junior College over South Plains College in the championship game of the NJCAA Region V tournament at Frenship.
Bianca Juzzo added nine points for NMJC (25-5), which earned an automatic berth in the NJCAA Tournament that unfolds March 22-27 at the Rip Griffin Center. The Thunderbirds split two conference games with South Plains (20-10) during the regular season.
Jennifer Silva and Daiysha Brown scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, for South Plains, which shot 26 percent and had its second lowest-scoring game of the season.
DIVISION II NCAA TOURNAMENT
South Central Region
Seeds, records in parentheses
WOMEN
at Junell Center, San Angelo
Friday's first-round results
Black Hills State 61, Regis 57
Lubbock Christian 62, Texas Woman's 55
UT Tyler 73, Colorado School of Mines 63
Angelo State 70, West Texas A&M 65
Saturday's Semifinals
Lubbock Christian 66, Black Hills State 50
UT Tyler 71, Angelo State 61
Monday's Championship
UT Tyler (5) (26-7) vs. Lubbock Christian (7) (24-10), 7 p.m.
MEN
at First United Bank Center, Canyon
Saturday's first-round results
Black Hills State 68, Colorado School of Mines 48
Fort Lewis 97, Lubbock Christian 65
West Texas A&M 78, Texas A&M-Kingsville 56
Angelo State 72, Colorado Mesa 57
Sunday's Semifinals
Fort Lewis (2) (29-3) vs. Black Hills State (6) (26-5), 5 p.m.
West Texas A&M (1) (26-6) vs. Angelo State (4) (26-6), 7:30 p.m.
NJCAA REGION V TOURNAMENT
at The Tiger Pit, Wolfforth
MEN
Friday's Semifinals
Ranger College 84, Weatherford College 59
Midland College 67, Odessa College 66
Saturday's Championship
Midland 68, Ranger 55
WOMEN
Friday's Semifinals
New Mexico Junior College 65, Collin College 62
South Plains College 69, McLennan Community College 67 (2OT)
Saturday's Championship
New Mexico JC 56, South Plains 37
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Area college basketball roundup: Lady Chaps advance to NCAA regional title game
