Lady Saints Reach Elite Eight For Second Straight Year

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Rip Griffin Center was packed with Lady Saint faithful Tuesday night, cheering No. 7 Seward County on to an 88-81 victory over the No. 23 South Georgia Tech Lady Jets in the second round of the NJCAA National Tournament.

After going down 4-2 to start the game, the Lady Saints went on a signature quick 6-0 run to take an 8-4 lead.  The run forced a Lady Jet timeout. The timeout worked exactly as planned as South Georgia Tech took a 10-8 lead. A Mollie Mounsey three ended the run as the teams began traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter with the Lady Jets taking a 20-19 lead into the second quarter.

A barrage of threes was the driving force for the Lady Saints in the second quarter going 9-of-13 from behind the arc. Mounsey started the action with a triple on the Lady Saints first possession to give the Lady Saints the lead, one they would not surrender the rest of the half.  Seward only made two field goals in the quarter that weren't from behind the arc as the Lady Saints outscored the Lady Jets 33-20 to take a 52-40 lead into the break.

Seward shot 51.4 percent (18-35) from the floor and even better from behind the arc, going 12-of-22 (54.5%).  The Lady Jets shot 46.7 percent (14-30) from the field, but just 28.6 percent (2-7) from deep.

Already holding a significant free throw advantage over the Lady Saints, South Georgia Tech started pounding the paint, increasing their free throw margin even more to make a second half comeback.  After shooting 14 free throws and missing just one in the third quarter alone, the Lady Jets were 23-of-26 from the charity stripe for the game, compared to Seward's 4-for-4.  The Lady Jets trailed Seward by just five points heading into the final quarter, 72-67.

Seward held off the Lady Jets for as long as they could, but a 4-0 run with under 2:30 left in the game gave South Georgia Tech an 81-79 advantage and the momentum, so it seemed.  Silvia Veloso turned the table for the Lady Saints, grabbing an offensive board off her own miss and getting a three-point play the old fashion way to retake the lead, 82-81. On the next possession Lexi Hernandez drilled her third – and most important – three of the game from the right corner to push the Lady Saints lead out of reach with under a minute to play.  Seward hit three free throws to end the game, while holding the Lady Jets scoreless to win 88-81.

The Lady Saints finished shooting 46.9 percent (30-64) from the floor and an even 50 percent (17-34) from deep. South Georgia Tech shot 46.7 percent (28-60) from the field, but the Lady Saints held them to only 14.3 percent (2-14) from deep.

Three Lady Saints scored in double-figures with Mounsey leading the way with 24 points.  Carla Covane had a career-high, dropping 13 points.  After having a near quadruple-double in the Region VI Championship game, Silvia Veloso finished with another stunning stat line, scoring 10 points, while grabbing seven boards, dishing out seven assists and registering five steals.

Seward will get a rematch with the team that beat them in last season's quarterfinal – Gulf Coast State College.  The Lady Saints will have a day off before taking on the defending back-to-back NJCAA National Champion Commodores in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA National Tournament on Thursday on 3:00 p.m. at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock, Texas.