ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 11/15 Wartburg College Knights (27-3) advanced to the Elite Eight after defeating the No. 13/13 UW-Oshkosh Titans (26-4) 70-57 on Friday evening. They will face No. 2/3 St. Thomas Saturday at 7 p.m. The victory tonight marked the 20th NCAA Tournament victory in program history.
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Sophomore
Kaitlyn Volesky (Mount Vernon) went a perfect 5-5 from the field on the evening, scoring a team-high 14 points, nine of which came from three-pointers. Fellow sophomore guard
Ally Conrad (Cedar Falls) scored 13 points and was a perfect 5-5 from the free-throw line.
Amanda Brainerd (Dewitt),
Katie Lindeman (Grundy Center) and
Payton Draper (Waverly) each tallied nine points in the victory. Junior
Emma Gerdes (Cedar Falls) and Volesky tied for the team led in rebounds with six apiece.
The Orange and Black went toe-to-toe with the Titans through the game's first six minutes, tying it up at 7-7. A 13-4 run, highlighted by three-pointers from Lineman and Gerdes, gave the Knights a nine-point lead at the end of the first (20-11).
The second quarter was dominated by the Knights, who connected on four three-pointers, two by Volesky, to lead it 37-28 heading into the half.
The Titans tightened their defense in the third, as they were able to trim the Knights lead from 11 to three (43-40) over the first seven minutes. A layup by Gerdes with 2:45 to go, in addition to two made free throws by senior center
Adrienne Boettger (Cedar Falls) helped give the Knights a five-point lead (49-44) heading into the fourth.
Wartburg forced the Titans to commit two turnovers in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, turning them into a made free throw and three-pointer to jump back out to a nine-point lead (53-44) with 7:50 left to play. Oshkosh managed to trim the lead down to six (53-47) with 6:05 remaining, but the Knights continued to execute offensively by trading baskets with the Titans, eventually taking their largest lead of the game (17 points) and finishing out the game on top, 70-55, to advance to the Elite Eight for the second-straight season.
The Knights return to the hardwood tomorrow.
Wartburg Press Conference
