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SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Davenport women's basketball team had a breakfast call Friday as it had to play a team it saw the first game of the year. But the 8:30 a.m. CST tipoff didn't stop Kia Frazier and the second-seeded Lady Panthers as they opened day three of the NAIA Division II Tournament with a 62-39 win over sixth-seed Cardinal Stritch to advance to the quarterfinals.
 
The Lady Panthers will wait to see who they will face Saturday at 2 p.m. EST as the top seed team in the quadrant Eastern Oregon takes on Jamestown (N.D.) later in the day.
 
Frazier scored only six points against the Wolves (27-8) but she clocked in a team-most 27 minutes as she had to cover an early foul-troubled Karli Harris in the first half. The sophomore also brought down a pair of rebounds and notched four assists.
 
Tiesha Stokes led the Lady Panthers with 15 points and nine rebounds, Harris added 10 points and three steals.
 
It was déjà vu all over again between the Lady Panthers and the Wolves in several different ways. Davenport won the first meeting of the season at the Student Center in November, but it was Cardinal Stritch who eliminated the Lady Panthers in the second round of the NAIA Tournament three years ago.
 
Davenport found itself in a small hole to start the game when Cardinal Stritch took a 3-0 at the 17:36 mark. But Frazier got the Lady Panthers on the board ten seconds later, and as soon as she checked into the game for the first time, Alex Law connected a 3-pointer for DU's first lead of the game.
 
After the Wolves took a 15-13 lead with 6:50 left in the half, DU began a run that set the tone of the game. Alison Bouman would use two layups and Kendra Cook combined for seven consecutive points to give the Panthers a 24-16 lead at the 3:26 mark.
 
The Panthers would lead as many as 11 points heading into intermission. Cook's seven-point run approaching the end of the first half was the most on the team, followed by Bouman's six.
 
Cardinal Stritch tried to erase the 11-point deficit but the Lady Panthers did not allow it. Davenport would continue to pad its lead and Bouman's jumper at the 1:36 mark gave them a 62-39 lead, the largest in the game.
 
Stokes dominated the latter half as she collected 13 points and brought down eight rebounds. After only playing four minutes in the opening half due to foul trouble, Harris would play 18 minutes the second, scoring seven points.
 
Post-Game Quotes
 
Head Coach Mike Williams
On the second half stretch – “We think we got some post players who can score around that block. If we are patient enough to get it to them, and I think we got some perimeter players that can put the ball inside, our post kids can score it. What that does is it gets you easy baskets. It kind of jump starts your defense. Once we get a couple of easy baskets, everybody is full of energy and we play better defensively.”
 
On the Cardinal Stritch's shots rolling around the rim – “I told our team I don't know if we were good defensively or they just missed a lot of easy shots. We're going to have to watch the tape and find out, but I think the key to that too was we didn't foul them when they went to the basket. If we don't foul them and miss it, I think we are in good shape.”
 
On his guards – “I thought we did a great job. I thought we got it that lane and got to two feet. We were patient and we made great decisions. When we started the game, we hurried, I think we had two or three charging calls, some bad shot selection. After that 10-minute mark, when we got into the lane, we settled and made great decisions.”
 
 
Sophomore Guard Kia Frazier
 
On her team's performance overall – “We started off a little bit slow but we had people to come in and give us energy. We have to use all of our players because they are ready to play at any time. We got the job done as a team, not just certain players.”
 
On what to look forward to in the next round – “I'm looking forward to our team to keep playing as a team, and to keep pushing and fighting.”
 
Post-Game Notes
Davenport improves to 11-8 in the NAIA Division II Tournament…The Lady Panthers have been shooting 45 percent or better from the floor in 10 of the last 11 games…Davenport improves to 3-1 all-time against Cardinal Stritch, having won two straight...The win today is the program's 300th. Since their inception in 2002-03, the Lady Panthers are 300-69.