Three teams from Kentucky move forward to Sweet 16 round of NAIA basketball tourneys
Three of the 11 teams from Kentucky who earned bids to the men’s and women’s NAIA basketball tournaments, including two from the same school, are still alive for national title contention after the first two rounds.
The final 16 men’s squads will decide things March 17-22 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. The final 16 women’s teams will square off on the same dates at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Thomas More men’s and women’s teams both advanced to the Sweet 16 with victories Friday and Saturday. Each bracket originally contained 64 teams.
The Campbellsville women also made it to Sioux City, where they will join fellow No. 1 seed Thomas More among the favorites.
The men’s teams from Georgetown, Cumberlands and Union were eliminated Friday in the round of 64, leaving Thomas More as the only men’s team from Kentucky moving forward.
The women’s teams from Georgetown, Cumberlands and Lindsey Wilson were knocked out Friday, and squads from Midway and Pikeville were defeated in the round of 32 on Saturday.
Here is a look at how teams from Kentucky fared on Saturday.
Women
No. 1 Campbellsville 74, No. 8 Benedictine (Kan.) 44: Courtney Pritchett scored 16 points, and Lexy Lake and Sarah Sutton added 12 each as the Tigers rolled into the round of 16 with an easy victory in Bowling Green.
Campbellsville (31-4) led 15-8 after one quarter, then put things out of reach with a 26-8 second-quarter burst that extended its lead to 41-16 at halftime.
Next up for the Tigers is a Sweet 16 matchup against Dordt University (26-8) of Sioux Center, Iowa, on Friday at 7 p.m. EST in Sioux City, Iowa.
No. 1 Thomas More 86, No. 9 Grand View (Iowa) 62: Fifteen players saw action for the Saints (28-4) and 12 of them scored during an easy round-of-32 victory at Crestview Hills.
Zoie Barth and Alex Smith scored 15 points each, and Summer Secrist added 10 for Thomas More, which made 34 of 65 shots from the field (52.3 percent) and 10 of 24 three-point attempts (41.7 percent).
The Saints will play Bryan College (32-1) of Dayton, Tenn., in the round of 16 in Sioux City on Thursday at 7 p.m. EST.
No. 4 Bryan (Tenn.) 90, No. 12 Pikeville 86 (OT): Sierra Feltner scored 32 points as Pikeville rallied from 13 down at halftime to force overtime and push the No. 4 seed to the limit before finally being subdued in the extra period on Bryan’s home court.
Pikeville (19-14) trailed 24-12 after one quarter and 45-32 at the half before stunning Bryan with a 26-13 burst in the third period that sent the game to the fourth quarter deadlocked at 58.
The Bears forged a 69-64 lead with 4:05 to go after a three-pointer by Bailey Frazier, but Bryan crept back in it and forced overtime on a layup by Gracee Dishman with eight seconds left in regulation.
Pikeville again surged ahead in OT, leading 78-74 after Feltner’s layup 1:18 into the five-minute extra session. Bryan secured its first lead in overtime, 87-86, on a three-pointer by Deandra Luna with 55 seconds left and held Pikeville scoreless the rest of the way.
No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan 86, No. 11 Midway 50: Playing in the NAIA national tournament for the first time, the Eagles pulled an upset in the round of 64 but saw their historic season come to an end in the second round against a dialed-in opponent.
Playing on its home floor in Marion, Ind., Indiana Wesleyan (30-4) raced to a 23-7 lead after one quarter and cruised to victory. The Wildcats made 31 of 58 shots from the field (53.4 percent) including 12 of 29 from three-point range (41.4 percent).
Dezeree White led Midway (26-8) with 16 points.
Men
No. 2 Thomas More 80, No. 7 Stillman (Ala.) 67: Ryan Batte and Reid Jolly scored 20 points each to lead the host Saints (29-4) into the NAIA final 16 in Kansas City for the first time.
Thomas More moved from NCAA Division III to the NAIA after the 2018-19 school year.
Thomas More will take on Southwestern Assemblies of God (24-8) in the round of 16 on Friday at 4 p.m. EST.