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NCAA-II Celebration
Derek Livingston
91
Minnesota St. MSU 25-8,18-4 NSIC
94
Winner Pittsburg St. PittSt 31-3,18-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Minnesota St. MSU
25-8,18-4 NSIC
91
Final
94
Pittsburg St. PittSt
31-3,18-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Minnesota St. MSU 25 29 19 18 91
Pittsburg St. PittSt 25 16 30 23 94

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Undaunted Gorillas Rally into Sweet 16 Regional Final, 94-91

PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University women's basketball team overcame a disastrous second quarter to rally from a 15-point deficit and score a 94-91 come-from-behind win over Minnesota State University – Mankato Saturday (Mar. 15) at John Lance Arena.

The second-round NCAA Division II National Tournament victory sends the Gorillas (31-3) to the Central Regional Championship Game Monday (Mar. 17) against Southwest Minnesota State University at 7 p.m. (CST). The winner of that Sweet 16 match-up will advance to the NCAA-II Elite Eight at Pittsburgh, Pa., later this month.

The two squads played to a 29-29 tie early in the second quarter before the defending national champion Mavericks exploded for an 11-0 run to storm in front, 40-29, on Natalie Bremer's pull-up jumper with 6:14 remaining in the stanza.

MSU (25-8) pushed its margin to 15, at 48-33, on two free throws by Mallory Czinaro two minutes later. The Mavericks eventually led 54-41 at the break.

The top-seeded Gorillas completely flipped the script in the third quarter by outscoring the Mavericks, 30-19, in the 10-minute frame. Harper Schreiner's driving basket just beat the third quarter buzzer as Pitt State trimmed the margin to two points, 73-71.

The two squads traded punches down the stretch as the lead changed six times. The Gorillas stormed ahead by seven points, 89-82, on Karenna Gerber's layup with 4:26 to go. The Mavericks countered right back with eight straight points of their own to go back in front, 90-89, on Bursch's layup with 1:08 remaining.

Sydney Holmes finally gave the Gorillas the lead for good, 91-90, with 53 ticks left. After Bremer missed a jumper for MSU, Gerber made one of two free throws for a 92-90 advantage with 22 seconds to go.

Bremer subsequently went to the foul line with 8.4 seconds left, but she could make just one of two charity shots to leave Pitt State in front, 92-91.

After the Gorillas advanced the ball to frontcourt with a timeout, Pitt State managed to inbound the ball and run off 8.1 seconds before MSU's Elisabeth Gadient fouled Maycee James with 0.3 seconds remaining.

James calmly sank her two free throws and following a final timeout the Mavericks were unable to get off a final shot.

Gerber posted her school single season record 13th double double with 27 points and 10 rebounds in the contest. Grace Pyle added 14 points, while Holmes (13), James (11) and Hannah Nilges (10) all scored in double figures.

Bursch led all scorers with 37 points for the Mavericks, while Bremer added 26.

 
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