The Lady Saints advance to the Region VI Semifinals in Salina

LIBERAL, Kan. - Seward County Community College advances to the Region VI final four in Salina, Kansas after a 74-67 victory over Colby Community College. Seward County will now face Hutchinson Community College at 5 PM on Friday, March 4th at Tony's Pizza Event Center in the semifinals. The Lady Saints enter the tournament as the third seed and the Blue Dragons are the second seed. The top of the bracket will feature the No. 1 seed Independence taking on the No. 4 seed Barton at 3 PM CT in Salina and the two winners will advance to the Championship game at 6 PM in Salina.

In the first quarter, both teams struggled to get their offenses established as the Lady Saints tied the game at 5-5 after a free throw by Sierra Lynch with five minutes left. Seward County started to connect from behind the three-point line and closed out the quarter with a 6-2 run that was capped off with a three by Halima Salat with 32 seconds left. The Lady Saints led 18-12 over the Trojans at the end of the first quarter. 

Salat picked up where she left off with a three to start the second quarter to give Seward County a 21-12 advantage. The Lady Saints went on a 16-3 run over the span of the two quarters to lead 28-13 and take their largest lead of the game with 7:52 on the clock. The Trojans responded with a 10-0 run to cut the lead down to 28-23. Seward County ended the second quarter with a 31-26 advantage over Colby at halftime.

The Trojans made it a possession game 38-36 with 4:40 left to go in the third quarter. Seward County went on a 10-2 run and with one minute left in the quarter, the Lady Saints led 48-38. In the final minute, both teams traded off baskets as the Lady Saints went into the fourth quarter with a 50-43 advantage. 

Seward County started the fourth quarter with an 11 point advantage after a three-pointer by De'Shawnti Thomas to lead 58-47 with 8:16 left in the contest. The Trojans made one last run as they went on a 12-5 run to cut the Lady Saints lead down to 63-59. Sierra Lynch got a steal and went coast to coast to give the Lady Saints a 67-59 lead with 2:15 left in the contest. The Lady Saints took care of business from the free-throw line in the final minutes to defeat the Trojans 74-67 and advance to the semifinals of the Region VI tournament. 

Sydney Wetlaufer led the way for the Lady Saints with 15 points in the contest. De'Shawnti Thomas added 14 points and four rebounds, and Zhane Thompson provided 12 points of her own. 

The Lady Saints will match up against the Hutchinson Blue Dragons on Friday, March 4th at Tony's Pizza Event Center with tip-off at 5 PM CT. Follow along here at SewardSaints.com for all of the gameday information.