Friday, March 24, 2000
NKU women make Division II finals
Enquirer News Services
Julie Cowens led NKU with 19 points.
(AP photo)
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PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Northern Kentucky is one win away from the women's NCAA Division II championship after holding off Western Washington 80-74 Thursday night in the semifinals.
NKU (31-2) will play North Dakota State (28-3) in the national championship game Saturday. North Dakota State defeated Columbus (Ga.) State 72-56 in its semifinal.
NKU's Julie Cowens, a 6-foot junior center, scored 19 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field. Michele Tuchfarber scored 15, Michelle Cottrell added 14 and Kristin Polosky had 10.
The Norse (31-2) made 6 of 7 free throws in the final 53.6 seconds to pull out the victory.
NKU was 26-of-34 (76.5 percent) from the line, including 19-of-23 by the starters.
“We shot 50 percent (from the line) Thursday and generally bounce back from an effort like that,” NKU coach Nancy Winstel said. “There are some games where we're a 92 percent shooting team, and there are others where we're 50 percent. We didn't shoot many in our shoot-around today, but free throws was one thing we really talked about.”
Western Washington senior forward Celeste Hill helped rally the Vikings from a 10-point first-half deficit. She finished with 28 points and had eight points in the first 10 minutes of the second half as the Vikings grabbed a 58-56 advantage with 7:53 remaining. But NKU took over from there.
“It was a really physical game,” said Hill, who finished 10-of-19 from the field and with a game-high eight rebounds. “I didn't hardly get any touches without getting knocked around some.”
Northern Kentucky outscored Western 9-2 during the next three minutes and never trailed again.
“We had some shots rim in and out in the second that hurt us,” Western Washington coach Carmen Dolfo said. “The little shots we are used to making didn't go in.”
The Vikings pulled to within one point twice in the final 2:16, but on both occasions, Northern Kentucky responded with three-point plays. Hill hit a short jumper with 2:16 left to pull WWU to within 67-66, but Northern Kentucky answered with a 3-pointer by Tuchfarber.
With 20 seconds left, Western's Briana Abrahamsen connected on a 3-pointer to pull the Vikings to within 75-74, but Cottrell was fouled while hitting a layup two seconds later. Her ensuing free throw and Jodie Kaczor's failed 3-pointer at the other end effectively ended the game.
“It just took us too long to get going,” Dolfo said. “We started slow and dug ourselves a hole that was tough to get out of.”
NKU — Livingstone 1-5 5-7 7, Tuchfarber 4-9 5-6 15, Cottrell 4-8 6-7 14, Cowens 8-10 3-3 19, Jenson 1-2 0-0 3, Mobley 2-6 4-7 8, Flanagan 0-1 0-0 0, Polosky 4-6 1-2 10, Smith 1-3 2-2 4. Totals: 25-50 26-34 80.
WESTERN WASHINGTON — Olsen 4-10 3-4 11, Kaczor 2-6 0-0 6, Nichols 3-7 4-5 10, Hill 10-19 8-8 28, Berendsen 1-3 1-2 3, Lovely 1-2 0-0 3, Taylor 1-6 3-4 6, Abrahamsen 2-4 0-0 5, Walker 0-1 2-2 2. Totals: 24-58 21-25 74.
Three-point field goals: NKU 4-12 (Livingstone 0-1, Tuchfarber 2-4, Jenson 1-2, Mobley 0-2, Flanagan 0-1, Polosky 1-1, Smith 0-1); Western Washington 5-15 (Olsen 0-1, Kaczor 2-4, Nichols 0-1, Hill 0-1, Lovely 1-2, Taylor 1-4, Abrahamsen 1-2). Halftime score: NKU 42, Western Washington 39. Records: NKU (31-2), Western Washington (27-4).
N. Dakota St. between NKU and title
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