NAIA Div. I Tournament National Championship: No. 3 Wiley College (Texas) Bests No. 1 Westminster (Utah), 75-58; Bound for First-Ever Fab Four

Wiley College Lady Wildcats (30-4) advances to the first Fab Four in program history, and will be the first historically black college to appear in the NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship semifinals since former member Central State (Ohio) in 2002.

FRANKFORT, Kentucky --  No. 3 Wiley (Texas) bested No. 1 Westminster (Utah), 75-58, in the third quarterfinal game at the Frankfort Convention Center Saturday to advance to its first-ever NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship Fab Four.

The Lady Wildcats had beaten No. 6 Mobile (Ala.) and No. 7 Shawnee State (Ohio), while Westminster had defeated No. 8 William Woods (Mo.) and No. 4 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), to advance to the quarterfinals.

Wiley never trailed after taking a 6-5 lead on a field goal by junior center Alexia Kelley with 15:28 remaining in the first half. The Lady Wildcats headed to the locker room at halftime with a 19-point lead and kept it at double-digits throughout the second period, despite the Griffins shooting 50.0 percent (3-of-6) from 3-point range and 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from the field in the second half.

Senior guards Danisha Shaw and Kyniddia Purdy led Wiley with 23 and 19 points, respectively.



Shaw’s 23 points was also the game-high. “Danisha Shaw and Kyniddia Purdy are our seniors on our team and they led us. They remember the hurt we felt last year from [our national championship first round loss to] Campbellsville and wanted to come back and prove why Wiley was in the tournament,” said Red River Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Courtney Garrett-Pruitt.

Wiley (30-4) advances to the first Fab Four in program history, and will be the first historically black college to appear in the NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship semifinals since former member Central State (Ohio) in 2002. The Lady Wildcats will face the last remaining No. 1 seed, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) on Monday at 8:00 p.m. EDT.

Coach Garrett-Pruitt said this of the Lady Wildcats' semifinal matchup, “It’s going to be a tough game. Freed-Hardeman is a great team and a historic program with great coaches. I know we're going to have our work cut out for us, but it's going to be a great game.”

Westminster falls in the national championship quarterfinals for the second-straight year and ends its season with a record of 26-3.

BOX SCORE

By: Sam Knehans, Communications & Sports Information Intern
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS