CANYON, Texas (March 11, 2022) – No.9 Lubbock Christian University made 10 of their final 13 shot attempts to surge past No.6-seed Colorado State Pueblo 65-57 in the Quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball South Central Regional Friday inside First United Bank Center. With the victory, No.6-seed LCU moves into the Semifinals, where No.2-seed No.7 Texas A&M-Commerce awaits for a 5 p.m. tip Saturday in Canyon.
 
LCU's 10-of-13 (76.9%) shooting flow opened with 2:03 left in the third quarter, and it came at an opportune time for the Lady Chaps. Trailing 40-38, Channing Cunyus hit a jumper with 2:03 remaining in the third quarter to tie the game 40-40. Cunyus' bucket opened a 5-0 run to help give LCU. 43-40 lead. The Lady Chaps, behind seven points in the third quarter from Laynee Burr, led 44-42 at the end of the third quarter.
 
The Lady Chaps, scoring six of the final eight points of the third quarter, opened the fourth quarter on a 5-0 run (Burr with three of the points off a strong inside three-point play) to give LCU an 11-2 run and a 49-42 lead 1:26 into the final frame. The ThunderWolves responded with a 5-0 run after a Tomia Johnson three-pointer, cutting LCU's lead to 49-47, but CSU Pueblo would be unable to produce a scoring run for the game's final 7:46. Ashton Duncan nailed a three-pointer over 5-1 run in which she scored all five points, and Duncan's efforts bult the lead to 54-48 with 6:08 remaining. Teams traded buckets, until an Allie Schulte field goal with 3:55 left sparked a 7-0 run for a 65-54 lead with 19 seconds remaining.
 
Schulte (8) and Duncan (7) combined for 15 points in the fourth quarter, with an additional five points supplied by Burr. LCU was 8-of-11 (72.7%) from the field in the fourth quarter.
 
LCU also produced an offensive quarter in the first quarter, but it took a bit to get going. Thankful for CSU Pueblo's 1-of-11 start of the game from the field, LCU was able to miss their first four shot attempts before making eight of their next nine attempts. LCU's first field goal came 3:15 into the game off a three-pointer from Duncan, who made her first two attempts to lead an 8-0 run for an 8-2 lead with 5:33 left in the quarter. The scoring push for LCU was during a span in which the T'Wolves went 5:28 without a field goal, and turned into a 13-2 run between CSU Pueblo field goals for the Lady Chaps. Burr hit a three-pointer with 34 seconds left in the quarter for a 20-10 lead, which was LCU's largest lead of the first half. Duncan led LCU with eight points in the first quarter, as LCU led 20-12 at the quarter's close.
 
The Lady Chaps went a span of 2-of-15 (13.3%) shooting from the field, and the shooting woes allowed CSU Pueblo to march back. A 12-4 scoring advantage by the ThunderWolves allowed them to tie the game at 26-26 with 3:09 left in the first half. Juliana Robertson scored four consecutive points with 2:18 left in the half and it led to LCU leading 30-29 at the half.
 
Robertson led LCU in scoring in the opening half with 10 points. She finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, which helped her record 94 career rebounds in NCAA postseason play for a new LCU career high (for NCAA postseason games).  She was one of four Lady Chaps to finish in double figures in points. Burr led all Lady Chaps with 17 points. Duncan (15) and Schulte (13) joined Burr and Robertson in double figures. Schulte's 13 points helped move her past Maddi Chitsey in LCU career scoring for NCAA postseason play with 185 points.  LCU also received a career-high five steals from Cunyus.
 
The ThunderWolves have their season close with a 23-9 record. Alisha Davis, who scored 18 points in CSU Pueblo's win over LCU in November, led all scorers with 23 points Friday. She was CSU Pueblos' only player with at least 10 points.
 
LCU, now 12-0 all-time in NCAA South Central Region play (21-1 all-time in NCAA postseason play), improves to 27-6 on the season. They are 7-5 all-time against CSU-P, and the meeting was the first postseason clash between the two programs.
 
TURNING POINT
LCU's Allie Schulte and Laynee Burr took advantage of one-on-one matchups in the paint in the fourth quarter. Schulte made three consecutive shot attempts inside the final 5:27 and each placed LCU's lead at six to help keep their distance. The third made field goal in the series by Schulte sparked a 7-0 run, which included Burr with an inside shot in the paint. Burr (2-for-3) and Schulte (4-for-5) were a combined 6-of-8 from the field in the quarter.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
LCU forced CSU-P into 16 turnovers, while committing seven turnovers. The seven turnovers tied for the second lowest by the Lady Chaps in a NCAA postseason game, behind six they committed Mar. 23, 2021 against Daemen College. LCU won despite 24 rebounds (out-rebounded 33-24). The 24 rebounds were the fewest ever by the Lady Chaps in a NCAA postseason game. Their lowest mark of the season is 23, which was against CSU-P in November. Along the same lines, LCU went without any second-chance points in the game for a second time this season, with their prior game against CSU-P also resulting in LCU scoreless in second-chance-scoring.   
 
WHAT'S NEXT
LCU faces Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday in the Quarterfinals at 5 p.m. in Canyon, with a berth to the region championship game at stake.