STILL DANCING! Women’s Basketball advances to first-ever Final Four

St. Joseph, Mo. —- The Catawba College women's basketball team advanced to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball national semifinals on Monday afternoon, defeating Cal St.-Dominguez Hills 77-70 at the Civic Center in St. Joseph, Mo. The Catawba Indians improve to 29-5 overall and will face either Minnesota-Duluth or Assumption in Wednesday's national semifinal. 

Lyrik Thorne led the way for Catawba, scoring a game-high 27 points, 21 of which came in the second half. The senior guard, who broke the school's single-season points record on Monday, added five assists and shot 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Mercedes Wampler added 10 points, six assists and five rebounds, while Catawba forwards Sara McIntosh and Mary Spry each scored in double figures with 10 points apiece. Dawnyel Lair had a team-high 16 points for CSUDH.

Catawba was out-shot both from the field and from three-point range, but forced 23 Toro turnovers and converted 23 of 28 free throw attempts. The Catawba Indians also held CSUDH to a three-plus minute scoreless drought in the fourth quarter to pull off their fifth NCAA Tournament win in program history and first trip to the Final Four.

Dominguez Hills connected on a three-pointer to start the game, but Catawba opened up a lead after a 9-0 run, making four consecutive baskets to take an 11-5 lead at the 6:17 mark. The Toros responded immediately, scoring the game's next seven points to regain the lead just before the midway point of the first quarter. Catawba made its second 9-0 run of the quarter in the final minutes of the quarter, taking a 22-14 lead after Miyah Dubose's layup. The Catawba Indians led 24-18 after an active first quarter.

Catawba scored the opening two baskets of the second quarter, taking a 10-point lead after Wampler's jumper at the 7:38 mark. The Catawba Indians opened up 12- and 11-point leads at different points throughout the quarter, but CSUDH clawed back to within eight points each time. A 9-2 Catawba run pushed their lead to 14 after Nala Baker's jumper with 37 seconds left. The Toros scored to end the half with Catawba on top, 47-35.

The Catawba Indians maintained a lead throughout the first four minutes of the third quarter, leading 54-43 at the 3:26 mark. The rest of the quarter belonged to CSUDH, however, as the Toros finished the period on a 12-2 run and scored the final eight points to cut their deficit to a single point heading into the final 10 minutes.

Thorne's three-pointer pushed the Catawba lead to four 30 seconds in, and Catawba held a one-possession lead until another Thorne triple stretched the lead back to four at the 6:13 mark. CSUDH's Deejanae Poland cut their deficit back to two with a bucket, but it would be the last point the Toros would record for a three-and-a-half minute stretch, allowing Catawba to score five straight points to hold a 69-62 lead with just over two minutes to go. The Toros connected on two three-pointers in the final minutes, but Thorne and Wampler combined to go 8-for-8 from the line in the final 62 seconds to punch its ticket to its first-ever Final Four.

Catawba becomes the first South Atlantic Conference program to ever reach the national semifinals, where they'll face either Minnesota-Duluth or Assumption on Wednesday at the Civic Center in St. Joseph, Mo.