Show Basketball heads to Nationals Lady Bruins go to tos toi s i Tournament for first time ever Gerald Narciso and Elisa Burke The Globe For the first fast time in school history the women's basketball team is heading to the National Tournament After defeating North Idaho in the region tournament championship championship championship champi champi- last week in Idaho the Lady Bruins secured their spot in national competition This week the thc team heads to Salina KS the site of the 2006 National Tournament The Lady Bruins who are the eleventh seed will face the sixth seed Colby Community College of Northwest KS on Tuesday March 21 Were excited beyond words said coach Betsy Weve been second for three years in a row so finally finally finally final final- ly we have taken a step forward Because of the teams team's youth and lack of experience the expectation level wasn't high coming into the season But throughout the season the chemistry chemistry chemistry chem chem- increased and the team developed an identity for being a well well- well balanced and selfless team Eight different players play play- ers have led the team in scoring in games throughout the season Currently riding a five game winning streak the Lady Bruins' Bruins record sits at an impressive 24 If you really look at what they accomplished this year I 1 guess you can Basketball Cont Cant on Page 4 r rv e II U a aLady Lady Bruins basketball team photo Basketball Cont from front say that's kind of remarkable considering they were all freshmen said I dont don't know the team just kind of came together In the first game of the region tournament the Lady Bruins led a strong second half charge to defeat Snow College 86 68 In the second round the team was matched up with their nemesis a team who previously faced four times this year winning two Atta play playoff off the bench sparked a Lady Bruin 10 0 run late in the second second second sec sec- ond half That run led the team to an 81 71 victory to advance to the finals That run was the difference in the game said could not be stopped With a National Tournament berth on the line opened up a 25 point lead in inthe inthe inthe the first half of the finals versus versus versus ver ver- sus North Idaho With eight minutes remaining in the game North Idaho cut the lead to 10 but the Lady Bruins countered with an 8 0 run of their own before sailing to a 75 59 victory Averaging 14 points 56 rebounds and 6 assists in the tournament Danielle McDonald was named the tournament You know we had a lot of players play well let me say that first said But ButI I think the thing that stood out the most is the consistency the of oI Da Danielle's Danielles game game gurie She just di diW did of I W what she had to do to help us uswin win McDonald along with Breanne Law and Alysha Young made the five person All Tournament Team Since winning the region the women's basketball team has spent the last week preparing for Colby Community College Although the Lady Bruins have never faced the team out of Kansas the team has been doing their research I know they went 3 20 and won both their conference and their region tournament said We match up with them pretty well to be honest with you They actually are very ivery similar to North Idaho Its It's not like t they're lightning ng quick and we cant can't keep up with them We feel we we- have a chance to pull this one out While this year has been filled with so many surprises and the rest of her Lady Bruins hope they can keep surprising people and come home with another tro tro- tro- tro phy This is the first time Idever Id I'd Idever Idever ever been there so I dont don't know what to expect said What we want to try do when we leave there is know that we represented our region and Salt Lake Community College well I dont don't know if well we'll win it I just hope that we play hard and continue to do the things we wedo wedo wedo do well Were We're going to learn le learn together j P at r I |