March 13, 2013 — The Kentucky Christian University Women’s Basketball team recently competed in the NCCAA National Tournament and finished third, just falling short of a championship.
The Lady Knights defeated Trinity Baptist 70-50 to capture third in the tournament.
KCU controlled the tip, but the teams traded misses and ball handling errors to start the game, and there were no points until about the 17-minute point when Trinity Baptist hit two free throws after a KCU foul on a rebound.
Trinity took a 7-point lead early, but could pull away no further before KCU began to seal the lanes and force longer shots. A nice run by the Lady Knights put them ahead at 16-15 before Trinity scored a couple of baskets. KCU pulled ahead just before halftime, but a couple of foul shots put Trinity up at 26-27.
Trinity opened the second half with a double dribble, but KCU did not convert. As Trinity became frustrated a bit, they began to foul, and KCU took advantage of a few opportunities at the line to put a little space between them. Jana Glick subbed in and scored on back-to-back possessions to push up a lead started a triple by Bowens.
Down the stretch, Sharonda Jones scored several points as the lead began to grow, and eventually reached 20 points. With a final score of 70-50, KCU captured third place in the NCCAA National Championship tournament.
Sharonda Jones had 24 and 9 rebounds, with 10-of-10 from the line. Tanya Bowens had 18, with 4 assists and 5 steals. Monica Stevens pulled down 16 rebounds to go with her 7 points, while Jana Glick had 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks. Kelsi Pugh had 7 and Jessica Marshall had 2 points but 6 rebounds. Katelyn Meyer finished with 1 steal and 1 block. Rachel Chester finished her KCU career with 2 points and 1 assist. KCU shot 429 from the floor, but .857 from the free thrown line. They had 10 steals and outrebounded Trinity 40-30.
Bowens was also named National Player of the Year and first team All-American. Stevens was also tabbed as a second team All-American.
