BETHANY, Okla. - Top-seeded Southern Nazarene opened the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships with a 70-61 win against GAC rival Henderson State on Friday night from inside the friendly confines of Sawyer Center.
The Crimson Storm (29-2) recorded their first NCAA Tournament win and enacted revenge on the Reddies (20-12), who defeated the Crimson Storm at last week's GAC Championships. They improved to 15-0 at home and ran their home win streak to 27.
Second-Team All-D2CCA Central Region honoree Lauryn Reither paced the scoring effort with a team-high 22 points. She went 9-fo-16 from the field and knocked down four 3-pointers. She added game-highs in assists, seven, and steals, four.
Hannah Giddey, a First-Team All-D2CCA Central Region pick added 14 points and five rebounds. Emily Monaghan scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Georgia Adams paced the reserves with 10 points in 14 minutes of play. She went 3-for-5 and connected on 2-of-3 3-point field goals.
The Crimson Storm defense limited the Reddies to 37.0 percent from the field and allowed them to make just 2-of-14 3-point tries. JJ Eddens tallied 22 points while Makenna Winans grabbed a game-best 13 rebounds.
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