Hastings College women's team to play for NAIA national crown

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- The Hastings College women's basketball team is one win away from being claimed the National Champion as they defeated College of the Ozarks 75-60 in the semifinals Monday night in Sioux City, Iowa.

The Broncos avenged last year's loss in the Final Four to College of the Ozarks as Hastings will advance to the national final with the win.

College of the Ozarks is the second No. 1 seed the Broncos have knocked off as they defeated Shawnee State back in the second round.

The 2009 National Final will be an all-GPAC final as Hastings will face No. 1 and undefeated Morningside College tonight at 7 p.m. in the Tyson Events Center. Morningside is currently 37-0 on the season.

Lindsay Ducey led the Broncos to victory with another double-double at the National Tournament.

Ducey scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. She was 7 of 13 from the floor and 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Kay Broekemeier finished with 15 points and 4 assists. Becky Tesch, Rachel Isherwood and Kim Faimon each scored 9 points.

Hastings led by 11 points at halftime. The Broncos held on to their lead with great free throw shooting down the stretch. Hastings was 45 percent from the floor and 50 percent from the 3-point line.

Husker women capture sixth straight postseason bid -- The Nebraska women's basketball team earned its school-record sixth consecutive postseason tournament berth when the 48-team field of the Women's National Invitation Tournament was announced on Monday.

The Huskers, who earned one of 16 first-round byes in the tournament, will play the winner of Southern University at New Mexico in the second round of the tournament at a date and location to be determined.

Southern will face New Mexico on Wednesday in Albuquerque, N.M.

Nebraska took on New Mexico at "The Pit" on Nov. 29 in the Lobos' Thanksgiving tournament, with the Lobos winning 62-51.

In addition to the Nebraska men playing at New Mexico on Tuesday, March 17, at 9 p.m. (Central), the Lobo women will be playing host to the first- and second-rounds of the NCAA Tournament at "The Pit" March 21-23.

"Our team is excited about the opportunity to continue our season in the WNIT," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said.

"We had to overcome plenty of adversity throughout the season with injuries to several of our players, but our players worked hard to improve and we finished strong. A postseason tournament berth is a great reward for their perseverance."

Nebraska tied for seventh in the Big 12 Conference, finishing with a 15-15 overall record and a 6-10 league mark. NU notched a 5-3 record during the second half of Big 12 Conference play.

The Huskers were one of only five Big 12 teams to produce a winning mark to the final eight games of conference play, joining NCAA Tournament top-four seeds Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas A&M and Iowa State.

The league sent six teams to the NCAA field of 64, including Kansas State and Texas, while adding three teams to the WNIT field.

Kansas also earned a first-round WNIT bye, and could play Creighton in the second round.

Oklahoma State will play UT Arlington in Stillwater in the first round.

The Postseason WNIT involves a 48-team field with 31 automatic bids to guarantee representative from all 31 conferences around the nation, including American (Patriot), Arkansas (SEC), Arkansas-Little Rock (Sun Belt), Boston University (America East), Boston College (ACC), Bowling Green (MAC), Butler (Horizon), Canisius (Metro Atlantic), Central Connecticut State (Northeast), Chattanooga (Southern), Coppin State (MEAC), Florida Gulf Coast (Atlantic Sun), Harvard (Ivy League), Illinois State (Missouri Valley), Indiana (Big Ten), James Madison(Colonial), Kansas (Big 12), Louisiana Tech (WAC), Murray State (Ohio Valley), New Mexico (Mountain West), Oakland (Summit), Oregon State (Pac-10), Portland (West Coast), Portland State (Big Sky), Richmond (Atlantic-10), SMU (Conference USA), South Florida (Big East), Southern (SWAC), UC Riverside (Big West), UT Arlington (Southland), Winthrop (Big South).

All games in the single-elimination tournament are played at home sites, including the championship game, which is set for Saturday, April 4, at 1 p.m. (central).

For more information and updated schedules throughout the tournament, visit www.womensnit.com.

If Nebraska is selected to host a second-round game in the WNIT, tickets will be available through the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office website at Huskers.com or by calling 1-800-8BIGRED.

WNIT Rounds/Dates

First Round - March 18-20 (16 byes, 16 games)

Second Round - March 21-24 (16 games)

Third Round - March 25-27 (8 games)

Quarterfinals - March 28-30 (4 games)

Semifinals - April 1-2 (2 games)

Championship Game - Saturday, April 4, 1 p.m.