March 12, 2007

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Tournament Most Valuable Player Becky Flippin scored all 14 of her points in the second half Monday to lead No. 4 seed Drury (25-8) to a 79-69 victory over No. 7 Ferris State (23-9) in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional title game.

Drury, which upset No. 1 seed Lewis on Saturday, advances to the Elite Eight in Kearney, Neb.

Molly Carter, who joined Flippin on the all-tournament team, scored 10 of her 15 points in the second half. Hannah Carter tied her sister for team scoring honors and tallied 9 second-half points.

Ferris State used a 14-3 run to construct the largest first-half lead held by either team, 26-19, with 6:20 remaining. Sam Johns, who led all scorers with 18 points, knocked down three of her four 3-pointers during the Bulldogs' spurt.

Then it was Drury's turn. Six different players scored during a 13-4 run that covered the final 6 minutes, and the Panthers carried a 32-30 edge to the locker room.

Drury threatened to run away early in the second half, building a 46-37 advantage with 14:12 to play. Ferris State chipped away, however, and took a 54-53 lead on Ashley Fleming's conventional 3-point play.

After the Bulldogs extended the lead to 58-55 at the 6:08 mark, the Panthers assumed command by scoring the next 8 points for a 63-58 margin with 4:28 left. A 3-pointer by Ferris State's Teghan Thelen made it a 2-point game, but that was as close as the Bulldogs would get.

Lauren Gregory had 14 points and a team-high 7 rebounds for Drury. Gregory's scoring total included an 8-of-8 effort at the foul line, part of the Panthers' 21-of-26 (.808) performance.

Rachel Folcik collected 13 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists for Ferris State. She and Kristin Reinhart (12 points, 4 assists) were named to the all-tournament team. Thelen scored 13 points and Audrey Thwing grabbed 8 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who committed 25 turnovers and were outscored 21-10 (10-of-13) at the free-throw line.

Lewis' Darcee Schmidt rounded out the all-tournament team.