The Saint Xavier women’s basketball team advance to the semi-finals in the NAIA Division II National Championship with a 72-62 win over (4)Hastings College. This marks the first time that Saint Xavier reach the “Fab Four” in back-to-back seasons.
Their game against Hastings went a little bit different than against Morningside, their prior opponents. The Mustangs did something that not many teams were able to do in the regular season which was having a lead against the Cougars.
Even more surprising was that Hastings managed to hold the lead until midway through the first quarter.
Once Tomei Ball sunk a three-pointer to give the Cougars a four point lead late in the first quarter, the team never looked back.
Defensively, Saint Xavier really stifled the Mustangs in the second quarter. They limited the Mustangs to only four points as they shot 1-12 from the field. Their four points came from a three-pointer and a free-throw.
On the other hand, the Cougars were able to go on a 16-4 run to go along with their solid defensive performance.
Chanel Fanter and Gabby Kreykes were among the standouts during that quarter combining for eleven points during that run. The teams headed into half-time with Coach Hallber’s team leading 33-19.
Saint Xavier was a team on a mission to put this game out of reach in the third quarter.
They stormed right out of the gate with Fanter continuing her good run of play as Kara Krolicki began to make her presence known on the score sheet.
After Krolicki converted on her free throws, the Cougars were up by twenty-one points, their biggest lead of the game.
Hastings attempted a comeback in the fourth quarter. The third quarter ended with Hastings’ Holly Hild scoring a jumper to cut the Cougar lead to sixteen.
A few more buckets in their favor and they managed to cut the lead down to eleven early in the final quarter.
Saint Xavier managed to increase their lead through the quarter to give them some breathing room. With a little over three minutes left in the game, Hastings was able to cut their deficit down to ten.
However, that was as close as they would get as two more Kara Krolicki free-throws would put the game completely out of reach. Saint Xavier clinced a spot to the Fab Four with a 72-62 victory.
It was another solid game for the Cougars own Fab Four.
Kara Krolicki and Brittany Collins finished the game tied in points scored with eighteen each.
Collins added two assists and four blocks to go along with her points. Those blocks raised her season total to 122 which sets a new single-season Saint Xavier record. The previous record, 120, was also set by Collins. Her fifteen rebounds also gave Collins her 41st career double-double.
With the eighteen points, Krolicki moved up to a tie for seventh place in the NAIA all-time scoring leaderboards list.
Maddie Welter finished the game with seven points, two assists, and two steals. Fanter contributed eleven points and was instrumental in the team’s performance in the second quarter.
Tomei Ball also had a very strong game off the bench. She had eleven points, two steals, and an assist and also played a huge role, especially in the second quarter. She got time to play in this game and she did not disappoint.
As previously mentioned, this is the Cougars second consecutive trip back to the Fab Four and, while not publicly stated, perhaps somewhere the team expected to be at the start of the season.
After reaching the championship game the season prior, that feeling of unfinished business must have stuck with the team so anything less than a shot at going back to a final would have been a disappointment.
Editor’s Note: Saint Xavier fell to Dakota Wesleyan 81-66 on Monday Night.
Ernesto Hernandez
Sports Editor