PROVIDENCE, R.I. – No. 6/7 Wartburg women's basketball battled for a 54-53 win over Bates College in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, Mar. 8.
Macy Harris gave the Knights the lead in the final seconds with a driving layup and the Knights will advance to their fifth Elite 8 in program history.
Game Summary
- First Half
- First Quarter
- Each team started the game with a driving layup to make the score 2-2 after two minutes of play
- After back-to-back scores from Bates, a Sara Faber layup cut the Bobcat lead to 5-4
- Bates scored the next seven points to take a 12-4 lead before Jaedon Murphy scored in the paint to cut the lead to six with 3:23 left in the first
- Lauren Woeste made a layup in the final minute of the first quarter to make the score 17-8
- Second Quarter
- Macy Harris and Natalie Bearbower knocked down three pointers in the first minute and a half of the second quarter to cut the Bates lead to 19-14
- After an almost four minute scoring draught, each side traded three pointers, with Murphy making one for the Knights
- Murphy made her second three a minute later to make the score 24-20 with 3:47 left in the half
- The Knights fought back to a one score game, cutting the lead to 26-23, after a free throw from Bearbower and a basket from Harris
- After defensive stops on both sides, the score remained 26-23, Bates, at halftime
- Second Half
- Third Quarter
- Bates opened the half with the first score, but was quickly answered by a three ball from Faber to make the score 28-26
- A driving layup from Harris tied the game up at 28 with 6:59 left in the third
- The Bobcats hit on back-to-back three pointers to stretch the lead back to six before layups from Britney Young and Murphy cut the lead to two with 2:54 left in the third
- Bates closed the quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 40-34 lead into the fourth quarter
- Fourth Quarter
- Bates made a jumper to make it 42-34 early in the quarter, but the Knights answered with a layup from Murphy and a three pointer from Faber to make the score 42-39 with eight minutes to play
- Taylor Runchey and Faber both made driving layups to cut the lead to 46-44 with just over six minutes left
- Faber's layup was an and-one layup
- A minute later Runchey found Young for three to give Wartburg a 47-46 lead
- Bearbower went 1/2 from the line to make the score 48-46 with 4:15 to play
- Harris made a tough driving layup with just over 2:30 to play in the fourth to push the Knights lead to 50-46
- Bates came out of a timeout with a made three and then after a stop, made a layup to put the Bobcats up 51-50 with 1:06 left in the game
- Another Bates driving score put the Bobcats up 53-50 with 23 seconds left
- Murphy scored to bring the Knights within one, and then Wartburg put Bates to the line with under 10 seconds left
- After two missed free throws, Wartburg got the ball back with under five seconds and Harris took the inbound pass and drove for a score to put Wartburg ahead 54-53 with 0.1 seconds left
- Knights held on to win 54-53
Top Performers
Notes/Streaks
- First ever matchup between these programs
- Advanced to Elite 8 for first time since 2019
- 28 wins is most in a season since 2017-18
- Young is second all-time in career three-pointers made with 225 (19 away from tying first)
- Faber is ninth all-time in career three-pointers made with 157 (nine away from tying eighth)
- Harris has the school record for games played with 129 and counting
- Career-high rebounds for Young (11)
Postgame Press Conference
Next Time Out
The Knights advance to tomorrow's Elite 8 matchup against the winner of Rhode Island College vs Washington & Lee University at 7:30 p.m. eastern.
