SIOUX CITY, Iowa—The defending national champions matched their season best 3-point mark, hitting 14 to knock off Southeastern 81-67 in the national quarterfinal.
The Knights were 14-of-29 (48.3%) from beyond the arc, and shot 45.8% from the field.
Southeastern (28-1) led 39-36 at halftime, but the Knights outscored the Fire 27-10 in the third quarter to take the advantage.
"I thought defensively, we didn't come out with the same intensity we had all year long," said coach
Tim Hays. "In some ways it was on us, they hit open shots and did a good job of doing that consistently."
The Fire hit just one of their first seven shots to start the third quarter, and the Knights went on a 15-2 run over the first 4:07 of the quarter.
The Fire built an eight-point lead (11-3) with 5:57 left in the first quarter on the first of five
Alyssa Ramos 3-pointers. The senior finished with 15 points, and three assists.
"Alyssa embraced a new role this year and was one of the best distributors in the country," said Hays. "I thought it was senior leadership on her part to realize there was a weird flow for us offensively and stepped in and hit some shots when she needed to."
Southeastern held a 13-12 lead after 10 minutes.
In the fourth quarter,
Bailey Hooker connected on 3-point baskets on consecutive possessions to make it a 12-point game (74-62), but were unable to get any closer. Hooker matched Ramos with 15 points, and added five rebounds.
The Fire held their own from outside, connecting on 10-of-22 (45.5%) from 3-point range, but 13 turnovers led to 11 Marian points.
Sarah Green chipped in 12 points, scoring six in the first quarter, and grabbed six rebounds.
Ana Richter was also in double figures with 10 points, and had six rebounds and three assists.
