Women’s Basketball’s historic season ends at Final Four

St. Joseph, Mo. —- The Catawba College women's basketball team saw its historic season end on Wednesday night, falling in the national semifinal against Minnesota-Duluth, 70-59, at the Civic Center in St. Joseph, Mo. The Bulldogs advance to next week's national title game in Dallas, while Catawba's record-setting year ends at 29-6.

Janiya Downs had a team-high 20 points for Catawba, going 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Lyrik Thorne added 11 points and four assists and Sara McIntosh recorded nine points and eight rebounds before both fouled out of the contest. WBCA National Player of the Year Brooke Olson had a game-high 34 points and 10 rebounds for UMD.

Catawba held a small lead for nearly the entirety of the first quarter, leading as much as 14-7 after Mary Spry's layup at the 3:25 mark. UMD's Madelyn Garcia hit a three-pointer, as the Bulldogs took their first lead of the game in the final minute of the first quarter, holding a slim 19-18 edge after 10 minutes.

The Catawba Indians scored the first four points of the second quarter to take a three-point lead, but the Bulldogs responded with two separate streaks of five straight points to take a 36-30 lead at the 2:43 mark of the second quarter. Nala Baker's and-one cut the deficit in half, but UMD answered with one more score before the first-half buzzer, leading 38-33 at the break.

The teams settled into a defensive grind in the third quarter, as the teams combined to shoot 4-for-25 from the floor and scored just 16 points combined. Catawba was held without a field goal for the first 10 minutes of the second half, going 6-for-6 at the line in the third quarter. Still, Catawba's defense limited UMD to 10 points in the quarter, trailing 48-39 with 10 minutes to go.

A quick 5-0 run capped by Jada Porter's three at the 5:21 mark turned a nine-point deficit into a 56-52 game at the midway point of the fourth quarter. UMD answered with the next five points, however, as Catawba only got as close as six in the game's final minutes.

Catawba ended its historic season with a program-record 29 wins, first NCAA Regional title, first appearance in a regional final, Elite Eight and Final Four and matched the program's longest home winning streak at 20. Thorne set the program's single-season record for points in a season, three-pointers made in a season and became the school's first First Team All-Region selection.