Ohio Christian wins RSC Women's Basketball Championship over IU Southeast
Ohio Christian wins RSC Women's Basketball Championship over IU Southeast
BOX SCORE I BRACKET
NEW ALBANY, Ind. -- Ohio Christian University completed its run to the 2019-20 River States Conference Women's Basketball Championship with Tuesday night's 95-82 victory at IU Southeast in the finals.
The Trailblazers (21-11), the No. 3 seed from the RSC East Division, pulled their second road upset of the tournament to bring home the championship. Ohio Christian made a big run in the second quarter on their way to the win over IU Southeast (20-12), the No. 1 seed from the RSC West.
Ohio Christian advances to the NAIA Division II National Championship as one of the automatic qualifiers from the RSC. No. 23-ranked WVU Tech is the other qualifier from the conference as the RSC regular-season champion. They will learn their pairings during the national selection show Wednesday, March 4 at 7 p.m. ET live on the NAIA Facebook page. The NAIA Division II National Championship is March 11-17 in Sioux City, Iowa.
Staci Pertuset poured in 35 points -- five off her career-high-- to lead Ohio Christian to the title. She was 12 for 21 from the field, made 10 of 10 free throws and also added eight rebounds and four assists.
Helaina Limas also had a stellar game for the Trailblazers with 27 points on 8 for 10 from the field and 10 for 10 from the foul line. Perfect free-throw shooting was a constant all night with OCU going 26 for 26 as a team.
Rachel Gillum added 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Mercedez Moore came off the bench for 10 points to make it four OCU players in double digits. Ohio Christian shot 58 percent during the big first half and 54 percent for the night.
IU Southeast held a lead of 26-25 after the first quarter. Then OCU took control with a 23-8 run the rest of the half, which resulted in a 48-34 lead at the break.
IU Southeast got within single digits at 69-60 after three quarters, but the Trailblazers were able to hold off the Grenadiers. IU Southeast got as close as 75-69 before OCU put the game away at the line.
Hannah Coleman put up 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Lauren Lambdin added 16 points off the bench for IU Southeast. There were six Grenadiers in double figures in all. The Grenadiers shot 56 percent the second half and 47 percent overall.