Bluejays advance to second round of NAIA national tournament
Written by Tom Stoppel
Tuesday, 07 March 2006
Tabor defeats Eastern Oregon 65-58
The fourth-rated Tabor College Bluejays defeated Eastern Oregon University 65-58 at noon on Wednesday in opening round action of the 15th annual NAIA national tournament in Sioux City, Iowa.
A 3-point rainbow at the buzzer by Erica Hemmert at the halftime buzzer staked Tabor to a 38-26 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
The Bluejays still led by 10 points at 44-34 with 15:44 to play, but EOU rallied to knot the score at 48 apiece with 10:36 remaining.
The game was still tied at 53 at the 8:01 mark and EOU had three opportunities to take the lead but never could.
A pair of field goals from Erica Hemmert down the stretch and six consecutive free throws including two each from Emily Vogts, Stacie Herman and Hemmert allowed the Bluejays to stave off the Mountaineers down the stretch for the seven point win.
Hemmert led the Tabor offense with 16 points while Emily Vogts had 14 and Donya Anderson added 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Bluejays connected on 39 percent from the field and 13 of 18 from the free throw line (78 percent).
EOU was led by Adria Layne with 13 as the Mountaineers shot just 36 percent from the field (23 of 63) and eight of 14 from the line (57 percent).
With the win, Tabor improves to 27-4 for the season while EOU closes out at 24-8.
Tabor moves on to round two on Friday morning at 8:30 to battle Dakota State from Madison, S.D.(21-10).
