Prolific pair puts Lions in quarters

JACKSON, Tenn. ? It has taken Vanguard University women’s basketball coach Russ Davis 10 years to build the program into the consensus favorite to win a national title.

In the Lions’ hard-fought, 80-74 victory over Cumberlands of Kentucky in the second round of the NAIA Division I Championships Friday at Oman Arena, Davis said he wasn’t above sitting back and enjoying the view.

From his sideline perch, Davis watched junior stars Kelly Schmidt and Jessica Richter, the best one-two scoring punch in Division I, carry the Lions on their backs and into today’s quarterfinals.

Top-seeded Vanguard (30-1) will meet Oklahoma Baptist (25-9) today at noon. It’s the fourth straight trip to the quarterfinals for the Lions, who were eliminated in the quarters the last two seasons.

Elimination was not out of the question against Cumberlands (21-9), which combined a bruising inside game with some early three-point accuracy to seize a 25-18 lead with 9:45 left in the first half.

Vanguard answered with a 23-6 spurt on its way to a 45-38 halftime cushion.

Then, as Cumberlands continued to peck away ? eventually forging a 72-72 tie with 1:46 left, Davis and the rest of the Lions merely watched Schmidt and Richter justify their reputations as two of the best players in the nation.

Beginning with the final basket of the first half, Schmidt and Richter combined to score 34 of Vanguard’s final 37 points. Only reserve guard Melissa Cook’s 15-foot jumper with 12:30 remaining, and her free throw with 4:40 left in the game, interrupted the dynamic duet.

“To look out there and see some of the plays at the end that Jess made and Kelly made, you know it’s no wonder they are All-Americans,” Davis said. “A lot of times, the coach will get the credit, but it’s hard to win basketball games without players. Players make plays and our players made plays today. I’m really proud of them.”

Richter, a Syracuse transfer in her first NAIA campaign, finished with game-high 31 points, including a three-point play that created a 75-72 lead with 1:34 left and three free throws in the final 16 seconds to put the game out of reach. She was 11 of 16 from the field, 6 of 7 from the foul line, and led the Lions with three steals.

Schmidt, extending what will be her third straight All-American season, finished with 21 points, a game-high 11 rebounds, and three assists ? despite having what she termed an off day.

The two-time Golden State Athletic Conference Player of the Year did miss her first three field-goal tries and did not score until 13:45 had elapsed. Schmidt also missed five straight free throws in the second half, a stark contrast to the 78.2% foul shooting she had displayed the first 30 games of the season.

“It was a weird game,” Schmidt said. “[The Patriots] were very physical. Everywhere you went, there was someone banging your or boxing out. It was a little more of an off game than usual for me, but everyone else stepped up.”

Davis praised the play of junior point guard Tiari Goold (seven points, all in the first half, a game-high eight assists and one turnover), junior guard Lacey Burns (six points and five rebounds), junior center Rachel Besse (eight points, six boards, five blocked shots and two steals) and Lindsey Rinke (two steals in seven minutes).

But it was clearly a star-spangled second half for the Lions.

“[Richter] is an excellent player and [Schmidt] really hurt us off the dribble against our four player,” Cumberlands Coach Melissa Irvin said. “We had to play a post player against [Schmidt] and it’s difficult for a post to guard someone with her size and her ball-handling skills.”

Schmidt made a 12-foot jumper to give Vanguard a 77-74 lead with 1:01 left. After Besse blocked a shot on Cumberlands’ ensuing possession, Richter was fouled and made the second of a double-bonus situation with 16 seconds remaining.

Schmidt rebounded a missed layup on the next possession and Richter was fouled. She hit both free throws to finalize the scoring with seven seconds left.

“I thought Cumberlands was the second-best team we’ve played this year,” Davis said. “We’re going to have our hands full [today], because Oklahoma Baptist is a solid, fundamentally sound team and I’m really impressed with them.

“When you get this far, for the fourth straight year, that’s a great accomplishment. But that’s not the accomplishment we’re looking for. We’re not here to come to the [quarterfinals]. But that’s our next step and we’re going to step on that next stair.”