IU Kokomo falls to No. 1 seed St. Xavier at NAIA DII WBB national tournament

IU Kokomo falls to No. 1 seed St. Xavier at NAIA DII WBB national tournament

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IU Kokomo falls to No. 1 seed St. Xavier at NAIA DII WBB national tournament

By Jake Knabel, NAIA Assistant Media Coordinator Box Score

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The hot shooting of No . 1-seeded Saint Xavier (Ill.) ensured that IU Kokomo's (Ind.) first national championships appearance would be short one. The victorious Cougars blistered the nets at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, shooting 62.7 percent from the floor en route to a 100-61 first-round win on Thursday evening.

Head coach Bob Hallberg's squad will move on to the second round of the 2017 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championships. Saint Xavier (31-2) will play either fourth-seeded Friends (Kan.) (27-5) or fifth-seeded Hastings (Neb.) (22-9) in the next round. Head coach Carlee Cottrell's bunch, River States Conference tournament runner up, ends its season at 21-13 overall.

Thursday's contest was lopsided from start to finish. Brittany Collins set the tone for the Cougars by scoring 11 of her game high 24 points in the opening quarter. It took Saint Xavier, Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference champion, less than seven minutes to construct a double-digit advantage. By halftime the lead had grown to 50-29 in a dominant effort.

IU Kokomo didn't have much luck limiting any of Saint Xavier's key players. Collins went 11-for-12 from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds. Kara Krolicki made 7-of-12 shots and poured in 19 points. Mikayla Leyden contributed 13 points, went 6-for-7 shooting and totaled eight assists and seven rebounds. Guard Maddie Welter went 3-for-5 from 3-point range. As a team, Saint Xavier made 12-of-23 (.522) attempts from beyond the arc.

IU Kokomo got a team high 14 points from Dejianna Butler, who converted on 6-of-8 shots. Collectively, IU Kokomo shot only 36.4 percent (20-for-55). It got outrebounded, 41-27, and committed four more turnovers (12-8) than did Saint Xavier.

Saint Xavier is a No. 1 seed at the NAIA Division II tournament for the third year in a row. In the previous two seasons, the Cougars have advanced as far as the quarterfinal round. Last year they were upset by fifth-seeded Goshen (Ind.), 84-66, in the second round.