WHAC Teams End Season in NAIA WBB First and Second Round

Sioux City, Iowa - At the conclusion of the 2023 NAIA Women's Basketball First and Second Rounds presented by Ballogy, all three teams from the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) had been eliminated from the tournament. Fifth-seeded Indiana Tech was the only WHAC team to win in the first round, beating Bryan (Tenn.), but fell to fourth-seeded Briar Cliff (Iowa) in the second round. 

Rochester entered the tournament as a 15 seed and suffered a hard-fought loss to host and second-seeded Carrol (Mont.) in the first round.

Siena Heights, a No. 13 seed, fell to No. 4-seeded Rio Grande (Ohio) on Rio's home court in the first round. 

First Round - Indiana Tech def. Bryan, 63-48
In a close game that neither side could open an advantage bigger than 7 points in the first three quarters, Indiana Tech held a slight three-point lead heading into final quarter. A stiff Warrior defense held Bryan to just four points in the first four minutes of the fourth and held the Lions' leading scorer Kaitlynn Hennessee to just one point in the final 10 minutes.

Genevieve Decker scored five of her 14 points in the fourth to give the Warriors an eight-point lead. Erika Foy then hit back-to-back jumpers for a double-digit lead that Tech never surrendered. Foy had herself a night by notching her 17th double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds while blocking four shots. Decker also grabbed nine rebounds, while Kyra Whitaker added 14 points for to lead the Warriors (27-5).

Bryan ends the season at 27-5 as Samantha Russell joined Hennessee as the only Lion in double figures with 13 points. Kadee Ferrell had 12 rebounds. 

Second Round - Briar Cliff def. Indiana Tech, 87-79
The teams played to an 18-18 tie in the first quarter as Bethany Worm scored 14 of Indiana Tech's first-quarter points. At the end of the third quarter, Indiana Tech held a two-point advantage thanks to a pair of free throws from Kyra Whitaker. Briar Cliff's Konnor Sudmann tied the game with a layup in the opening seconds of the final quarter only to see Juliana Burris answer with her own layup to keep Tech in front. The Warriors owned the lead until the 4:09 mark when Sudmann again tied the game with a layup. Another layup from Sudmann 24 seconds later and a three from Kennedy Benne combined with Tech going scoreless for four minutes forced IT to foul. Sudmann went 7-for-8 from the free throw line down the stretch.

Sudmann finisheed with 30 points, 17 in the fourth quarter, to lead all scorers. Peyton Wingert added 21 points and Beene grabbed nine rebounds as Briar Cliff improved to 26-7 and advances to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa. 

Tech ends the season at 27-6 and was led by Worm's 19 points. Whitaker added 15 points and Genevieve Decker had eight rebounds.

First Round - Carroll def. Rochester, 75-66
Carroll got the early jump going up 10-3 lead early in the first quarter until Elysia Mattos hit a layup to start Rochester's comeback that included five steals that were turned into buckets. The first quarter ended with the Warriors leading 21-20. The second quarter was evenly matched and Carroll got seven points from Jamie Pickens to tie the score at 37-37 heading into the break. 

Carroll stepped up the defensive pressure in the third, holding Rochester to just 25% shooting from the floor with zero behind the three-point arc, for a seven-point lead. Rochester battled back in the final period as Mattos and Krystal Rice each scored five points, but the Saints got eight points from Kyndall Keller and was 6-for-8 from the charity stripe. 

Mattos and Jacara Thompson each scored 11 points for Rochester with Thompson adding four rebounds as the Warriors end their season at 21-11. 

Pickens scored 23 points and had 11 rebounds and Keller finished with 18 points to lead Carroll (26-5). 

First Round - Rio Grande def. Siena Heights, 109-78
The first half saw Siena Heights trailing by just five, 49-44, after battling back from an 11-point deficit. It was as good as it got for the Saints as Rio Grande blew the game open with 60 points in the final two quarters.

Sha'kyia Parker closed the gap to 53-49 in the third, but Kaylee Darnell sunk 23 points in the the third period for the huge lead. Rio Grande continued its momentum into the fourth, holding a comfortable lead the rest of the way.

The Red Storm (29-3) was lead by Darnell's 27 points with Reagan Willingham and Lexi Woods each scoring 14

Sha'kyia Parker led the way for SHU (24-7) with 23 points and Peyton Banks finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds.