Women's Basketball earns spot in the WHAC Championship game with win over Lourdes

(Rochester Hills, MI) - The Rochester Christian women's basketball team matched up against the Lourdes Gray Wolves in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Semifinals on Friday evening. RCU would outscore the Lourdes offense in each quarter, while nearly shooting the ball at a 50% clip and 87.5% from the free-throw line to clinch a spot in the WHAC Championship game on Monday. 

With the win, the Warriors also clinch a spot in the NAIA National Tournament when it begins on March 13-14. 

FIRST HALF

The Warriors' highest scoring quarter saw them shoot the ball at a 68.8% clip. Kendal Zeiter started by converting an "and-1" in the first minute. Zeiter continued her strong quarter with the team's first seven points. Samone Andrews followed up with a three-pointer, and Jacey Somers hit a jumper to start the game with a 12-3 run. The Warriors continued the scoring output with Ashley Loon getting in on the scoring. RCU scored seven of the final 10 points in the quarter.

Ashley Loon scored the first points of the quarter for RCU, which started a 7-0 run by herself to push the lead out to an early 17 points. The next several minutes would see Lourdes go on an 11-0 run before Jacey Somers hit a three-pointer to break the run. Kendal Zeiter hit a pair of free throws to close out the quarter, with RCU leading by 12 points. 

SECOND HALF

Early foul trouble saw the Warriors going to the bench with Mylah Aalse, Tambre Williams, and Karmyn Lowry putting in a huge effort in the second half, propelling the Warriors to the win. The first couple of minutes of the half had Lourdes crawling back into the game, making it a four-point game and forcing an early RCU timeout. Ashley Loon broke the LU run with a steal and layup, as teams would start to trade baskets, keeping the distance at four points. The Warriors started to pull away with an Amal Younes layup and closed the quarter out with a 10-2 run. 

Amal Younes opened the final quarter with a layup. As the teams started to trade baskets with Lourdes attempting to get back in the game, Samone Andrews would start to take over in the game, earning 14 total points in the quarter, including being able to ice the game from the free throw line, going eight of nine from the stripe. 

TOP PERFORMERS

Samone Andrews led the offense on the evening with 25 points, five assists, and six rebounds. Jacey Somers was the second leading scorer for the Warriors with 18 points on 70% shooting and grabbed a team high seven rebounds. Kendal Zeiter and Ashley Loon both scored 13 points. Loon pulled down five rebounds, while Zeiter blocked a pair of shots. 

UP NEXT

The Warriors advance to the WHAC Championship on Monday, March 2, taking on the regular season champions in Indiana Tech at 6 PM in Fort Wayne, Indiana.