March 22, 2024
Kirkwood Moves Onto National Semifinals
Joplin, MO-
Kirkwood advanced to the semifinals of the NJCAA DII National Tournament with a hard-fought 88-78 victory over 7th seed Morton on Thursday night.
The Eagles, who improved to 33-2 with the victory, led throughout the game and appeared to be cruising to a comfortable victory midway through the third quarter then the game turned on a dime.
Kirkwood built a double-figure lead in the first quarter, as they led 27-16 after a quarter of play.
Morton cut the Eagles lead down to 29-25 with 6:31 left in the second quarter, but Kirkwood responded with a 12-0 run to extend the lead to 41-25 with 1:20 remaining in the quarter.
The Eagles held a 43-32 advantage at halftime.
Kirkwood managed to take their largest lead of the game at 61-39 on back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Emily Dreckman with 4:57 remaining in the third quarter.
The game was far from over though, as Morton picked up their defensive pressure & forced the Eagles into numerous uncharacteristic live ball turnovers, which the Panthers converted into points.
Morton drew within four points at 72-68 with 7:02 remaining in the game.
Kirkwood would weather the storm, as their sophomore post players Demetria Prewitt & Kaylee Corbin scored six straight points to give the Eagles a double-digit lead once midway through the fourth quarter and virtually squash any Morton comeback.
Prewitt & Corbin both record a double-double in the victory. Prewitt finished with a game-high 21 points, 10 rebounds & 8 assists. At the same time, Corbin added 16 points & 11 rebounds.
Dreckman went 5-12 from three-point range & finished with 16 points.
Freshman Jenna Twedt was the fourth Eagles player in double figures, as she finished with 15 points.
Sophomore Zhlayla Evans knocked down two three-pointers to chip in 6 points.
The Eagles got 14 points off the bench in freshman Lizzy Puot's 5 points, freshman Sam Veto's 4 points, freshman Niaja William's 3 points and sophomore Ellie Etjen rounded out the Eagles' scoring with 2 points.
Just as they had done in the first-round victory on Tuesday night, the Eagles dominated the boards 47-30 & win the war in the paint 44-22.
Kirkwood's next opponent is 6th-seeded Mesa on Friday night at 8:00 pm with the winner moving on to the national championship game.
