Hot shooting from the field helps Lady Lions to tournament win

March 7, 2023

by Dustin Semore, FHU Sports Information Director

DUBUQUE, Iowa — The (RV) Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions used a big first quarter to keep the Northwestern (Iowa) College Red Raiders at bay where they were able to advance to the regional final with a 74-64 victory.

The second-seeded Lady Lions (24-9) were dropping dimes in the first frame, with Raegan Purvine sinking back-to-back 3-pointers before Kelsey Bender joined the long ball party. While The Red Raiders tallied a 3-pointer of their own, Kalea Fleming tallied a triple to put the Lady Lions on top 20-10. With Rees Berkey tacking on back-to-back layups, FHU found themselves on top 24-12 after the first quarter.

The Northwestern (19-11) defense began to spread out FHU's offensive output, not allowing more than two consecutive makes. Unfortunately for the Red Raiders, three more triples were a part of the Lady Lion scoring. Rachel Satterly sank a 3-pointer before Madisyn Baugher put her name in the scorebook with a 3-pointer. After a pair of layups from Purvine and Berkey, Baugher's tripled helped FHU move to intermission with a healthy 43-23 lead.

Undeterred, the Red Raiders exploded out of the locker room with a 7-2 run. Their defense began to force Freed-Hardeman into the paint as the girls in maroon and white did not connect for a single long ball in the penultimate frame. A late 7-0 run by Northwestern highlighted by a 3-pointer narrowed the gap to a 54-43 score in favor of Freed-Hardeman at the end of three quarters. 

With the fourth quarter mostly consisting of free throws, two high-percentage teams from the line made for an interesting final ten minutes. While a majority of the shooting was done at the 15-foot line, it was a 3-pointer from the Red Raiders that gave them their closest look at the FHU lead, with the score now sitting within two possessions at 63-58. The FHU Lady Lions would sink their last four free throws to ice the first round with a 74-64 victory.

Raegan Purvine led the Lady Lions with a 16-point effort, going 5-8 from the field. Rachel Satterly closely followed with 15 points, with Madisyn Baugher's 3-5 evening from deep helping her to a 14-point total. Elli Chumley was FHU's leading rebounders, scooping up seven rebounds.

Up Next

The Lady Lions will fight for a spot at Sioux City, Iowa, against the host and top-seeded Clarke (Iowa) University Pride. Tipoff from the Kehl Center is set for Wednesday, March 8, at 5:30 p.m.