Berea College wins 2006 KIAC Women's Basketball Championship

2/26/2006 12:00:00 AM

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (February 25, 2006) No. 1 Berea College defeated No. 2 Bethel College 91-85 in the women's basketball championship game on Saturday night as the 2006 Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) Championships came to a conclusion at Indiana University Southeast.

Both Berea and Bethel played tough offensively in the first half. Both teams traded leads until Berea started to pull away with 8:37 left in the first half. Berea was led by Rebecca May who scored 14 points, three rebounds along with two steals in twelve minutes of play. She was the leading force in the first half for the Mountaineers. Bethel's scoring was equally distributed in the first half with Whitney Baird leading the Wildcat attack with eight points and five rebounds. Kala Morton also added six points in seven minutes of play for Bethel. The Mountaineers out shot Bethel in the first half by hitting 31.9 percent from the field compared to the Wildcat's 28.2 percent. The shooting differential in the first half was key to Berea's 13 point lead at halftime 41-28.

Bethel College played a very tough second half as they stormed out of the locker room with intensity. The Wildcats never gave up and were able to bring the game back within six points at the conclusion.

The game featured two ties in the early minutes with Berea's largest lead coming with 16:17 left in the second half when they led the Wildcats by 24 points. Leading Berea in the game was Rebecca May with 30 points, five rebounds and five steals. Crystal Davis also added 18 points for the Mountaineers. Bethel College was led by Whitney Baird who played a phenomenal game scoring 27 points while claiming 15 rebounds. Dani Howard also played a solid game scoring 20 points along with 11 rebounds. Bethel finished the game shooting 39.3 percent from the field and 30.0 percent from behind the arc. Berea College finished the contest shooting 33.3 percent (30 of 90) from the field and 30.6 percent (11 of 16) from three point range.

Berea College will represent the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with an automatic bid to the NAIA DII Women's Basketball National Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa. The tournament will be played on March 8-14 at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena. For more information on the national tournament please visit: www.naia.org.