Vanguard Lions advanced to the 2017 NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship Second Round after defeating Lindenwood-Belleville Lynx 66-59 at the Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark.
Ugandan Claire Lamunu was 4-for-13 from the field and amassed 13 points and picked 14 rebounds as she faced a double-team on almost every possession.
Hanna Tabron scored in a team-high 15 points as Vanguard advanced from the first round for the second straight year.
“I thought we played a really quality team in Lindenwood tonight. The times we didn’t play well we have to give credit to them. Survive and advance – we’ve got a tough game tomorrow against Montana State-Northern,” Vanguard head coach, Russ Davis, said after the game.
Lindenwood-Belleville led 21-16 after one but Vanguard chipped away in the second and tied at 23 on Kennedy Maya’s 3-pointer before taking the lead on a Tania Uluheua (10 points) jumper and did not look back.
Lamunu scored seven points and grabbed eight rebounds in the frame on her way to the 24th double-double of the season.
Brianna Mueller led the Lady Lynx in scoring with 20 points and was one of four players of the team in double figures. The others were Torre Kohrmann (14 points), Alison Webb (11 points) and Candace Niemerg (11 points).
The Lions return to action tonight against 11th ranked Montana State-Northern in the second round.