Women’s Basketball
Watching the Drovers - USAO will be showing each game of the men’s and women’s tournaments on campus in the Davis Hall Amphitheater. Students, faculty, staff and the community are invited to watch the Drovers live. Fans can watch each game from their computer for $7.95 per game by logging on to www.watchnaia.com.
Women to Face Top-Seeded Union in First Round
JACKSON, Tenn. – In only its second national tournament appearance, the University of Science and Arts’ women will have their hands full with Wednesday night’s first round matchup against top-seeded, top-ranked and undefeated Union University.
Union, the national tournament’s host team, finished the season 32-0 and captured the TranSouth Athletic Conference title. The Lady Bulldogs have four players scoring in double figures for the season led by junior center Josephine Owino and sophomore guard Kaitlin Dudley.
“They’re a really good team,” head coach Jay Niehues after Tuesday’s practice session. “They shoot the ball really well. They average about 10 made 3-pointers a game, and they have a big girl inside that can score.”
That inside-outside game of Owino and Dudley produces over 36 points and 13 rebounds per game. As a team, Union shoots over 42 percent from 3-point land and over 50 percent overall.
Union also creates a size mismatch inside, which could cause a huge problem for the Drover team that leans heavily on the inside game of Yesi Castillo and Charite Lewis. Castillo and Lewis are averaging 28 points and 18 rebounds per game, but the 5-foot-11 Castillo and the 5-foot-8 Lewis might be held well below their averages when facing Union’s four-guard lineup and the 6-foot-4 Owino inside.
But the Drovers’ first-round game isn’t just about X’s and O’s. USAO will have to slay the Goliath of women’s NAIA basketball on Goliath’s home floor and in front of Goliath’s home crowd.
“There will be a big crowd there,” Niehues said. “There will be a big crowd of Union fans, but there will also be a large amount of people that will be rooting for us just because they want Union lose.
“Our game is right after the Parade of Champions, so most of the teams will be there, and most of them will want us to win. So, it’s a tough task just because it’s the hometown team, and that gives them a lot of advantages,” Niehues said.
For David to slay Goliath, the Drovers will have to play they way they did in wins over then-undefeated Oklahoma Baptist, Lubbock Christian and Rogers State.
“I think we have to really limit their 3-point shooting. Instead of allowing them to hit 10 or 12 3-pointers, we have to limit them to five or seven. And then we have to shoot the ball well,” Niehues said about the keys to victory. “We have to beat them on the glass, which I think we can with our quickness, and pressure them a little bit and hopefully get some easy baskets.”
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