CSB feeling good about sweet 16 trip
"Our goal at the beginning of the year was to make the NCAA playoffs, but I told (senior teammate) Kim (Johnson) really early on that I could just feel that we were going to go really far," said Heikenen, whose team (24-4 overall) faces George Fox (Ore.) (21-5) in the round of 16 at a time to be announced Friday in Ashland, Va. (right outside of Richmond). "She told me to take it one game at a time and that we weren't even into conference play yet. But deep down I think we all knew we had it in us to go pretty far. We just didn't know how far."
They're finding out now.
The winner of the St. Benedict/George Fox game will face the winner between sectional host Randolph-Macon (27-1) and Trinity (Texas) (25-4) on Saturday for a berth in the final four, which will be played March 18-19 in Virginia Beach, Va.
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"It should be a lot of fun," said Heikenen, who is averaging a team-best 17.7 points per game. "I'm really looking forward to it."
The Blazers advanced to sectional play with a 77-71 victory over Buena Vista (Iowa) in the second round Saturday in Storm Lake, Iowa. Sophomores Darby Noreen and Katie Kempe continued to play well.
Noreen finished with 17 points, including two 3-pointers, while Kempe finished with 15. Junior wing Justine Richels hit three key first-half 3-pointers to finish with nine points. St. Benedict hit nine 3-pointers as a team.
Meanwhile, Heikenen and Johnson continued to play well inside. Shaking off foul trouble, Heikenen finished with 14 points while Johnson finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
"This is the most improbable tournament run of any team I've had here," Blazers coach Mike Durbin said. "With other teams, they truly had their eye on this as a goal when the season began.
"We didn't know where this team was going to end up. Everything is coming together at the right time."
George Fox advanced to the sectional round with an 86-55 victory over Chapman (Calif.) Saturday. Liz Clark, a 5-foot-9 senior, had 12 points and 20 rebounds. Katy Campbell, a 6-4 freshman, had 18 points. Kim Leith, a 5-7 junior, leads the Bruins in scoring. She is averaging 17.6 points per game and has 68 3-pointers.
The Bruins are holding their opposition to an average of just 51.2 points per game.
"We've pulled out some stats, but that's about all we know so far," Durbin said. "It's looks like they're kind of similar to Buena Vista in that they're not real tall and they shoot a ton of 3-pointers. Clearly, they're an outstanding defensive team. They have to be to hold teams to so few points per game."
Athletic Department
College of Saint Benedict
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