The Roberts Wesleyan College Lady Raiders saw their post season run fall one victory short of a National Championship on Saturday at the NCCAA National Tournament in Winona Lake, Indiana. The Lady Raiders (21-12) lost to the defending national champion Bethel College (IN) Lady Pilots (21-14) by a score of 80 – 69. It was the Lady Raiders third time to the championship since 2003 – 2004, losing to Bethel each time.
With the #2 seeded Bethel holding a 26 – 24 lead with four minutes remaining in the first half, the Lady Pilots closed the half on a 9 – 2 run, capped by a three pointer banked in at the buzzer from sophomore guard Laura Johnson (5 points) and went into the locker room with a 35 – 26 lead over the Lady Raiders. Both teams had starters on the bench with two fouls. The Lady Raider front line of Brittany McMillon (SR, Lyons, NY), Sarah Child (JR, Albany, NY) and Lindsay Kendall (SO, Rochester, NY) all had two fouls. Lady Pilot's senior stars Heather Seyfred (19 points) and Mandy Yoder (4 points) were also limited in the first half by two fouls.
The Lady Pilots continued their game decided run early in the second half, scoring the first 11 points of the second half to grab their largest lead of the game at 46 – 26 with 17 minutes remaining.
The Lady Raiders would close the game to 10 points with 7:47 remaining, but could never get any closer.
McMillon recorded her third double double of the tournament, scoring a game high 22 points and adding a game 11 rebounds. For the tournament, McMillon averaged 18.7 points and 14.3 rebounds in a dominating three game performance. The Lady Raider captain was chosen to the All – Tournament team for her efforts. Kendall added 17 points on perfect shooting, including a NCCAA finals record tying 5 – 5 from three point land. Senior guard Tiffany Wilson (Rochester, NY) flirted with a triple double, scoring 10 points, dishing out 9 assists and grabbing 7 rebounds. Bianca Jones (JR, Long Island City, NY) continued her strong tournament, scoring 8 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. She also recorded a game high 5 steals.
Wilson's 23 assists was 2 short of the MCCAA finals record of 25, recorded by Lady Raider standout Judy Wright in 2006. McMillon's rebound total of 43 over the three game finals was 3 short of the tournament record of 46 set by Dristie Bilbie (Concordia College) in 2001.
“I am so proud of our team and their efforts this week,” said Coach Bob Segave. “We battled to the very end, which has been a hallmark of this team. They persevered all season, from having to travel everyday to practice when the VAC (Voller Athletic Center) was not complete, through a grueling first semester of games and injuries, through the tough AMC schedule, the AMC tourney and the NCCAA finals, this team would not quit.”
Segave added,” We just could not rally one more time against a very good group from Bethel. We had them in foul trouble in the first half, but we could not capitalize. That three at the buzzer hurt, and then they came out firing in the second half from distance. They made 14 three's for the game, which is one shy of the most ever in the NCCAA Finals. We normally defend the three pretty well (Roberts finished second in NCCAA Division 1, allowing opponents to shoot only 26%), but they shot 53%(9-17) in the second half and 42% for the game (14-33). We also did not take advantage of the turnovers we created, while Bethel converted ours into 20 points.”
“This was a wonderful week,” Segave concluded. “Being here and experiencing the week at the NCCAA Finals is something I know we will never forget. The competition was great, and being able play and honor Christ in doing so is such a blessing.”
