The Lancaster Bible College women's basketball team kept its season alive on Tuesday night at Horst Athletic Center as the Chargers defeated Oakland City (Ind.), 72-70 in the NCCAA Division I Midwest Region Quarterfinals. The Chargers, who improved to 20-8 with the victory, move on to the Midwest Region Semifinals where they will face Ohio Christian on Friday at 8 p.m. at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, N.Y. The loss ends the season for the Lady Oaks who finished with a 17-7 record.

How it Happened: For two teams who had never faced one another prior to Tuesday night, the teams seemed to very comfortable offensively as the Lady Oaks and Chargers combined for 52 points in the opening 10 minutes. After Oakland City opened the contest with a 3-pointer from Maddison Ubelhor, the Chargers scored the next 10 points, led by six from freshman Caitlin Hickey and four from sophomore Courtney Goyak. 

The Lady Oaks showed why they came into the game averaging 99.5 points per game as they went on an 11-4 run and tied the game at 14-14 on a layup from Emily Pitkin with 4:25 left. Oakland City continued to shoot the ball in the latter half of the opening quarter and took a 28-22 lead on a 3-pointer from Alicia Wilson, the Lady Oaks' sixth triple of the first quarter. Freshman Emily Morgan converted a layup with 48 seconds left to bring the Chargers back to within four, 28-24, which is what Lancaster Bible trailed by after 10 minutes of play.

Oakland City scored the first four points of the second quarter to take an eight-point lead, 32-24, but the Chargers responded again and went on an 11-0 run. Hickey was key again, as she knocked down two more 3-pointers and the run was capped by senior Naomi Otis who hit a 3-pointer as well and gave Lancaster Bible a 35-32 lead with 6:17 to play in the half.

The Chargers extended their lead to five, 39-34, on a nice layup from junior Kirsten Webster, but Oakland City was able to trim its deficit to two, 42-40 just before halftime. During the second quarter, Goyak grabbed her 580th rebound of the season and broke a 35-year old NCAA Division III record for rebounds in a season.

The quarter of doom for the Chargers, the third, reared its ugly head again on Tuesday as Oakland City outscored Lancaster Bible, 19-10 and took a 59-52 lead after 30 minutes of play. 

Things started poorly in the fourth quarter as well for Lancaster Bible as Chelsea Jellison knocked down a 3-pointer with 9:30 remaining to give the Lady Oaks a 62-53 edge. The Chargers tried to get back into the game, but a jumper from Oakland City's Olivia Carroll with 5:50 remaining gave the Lady Oaks a 66-58 advantage.

Lancaster Bible hung tough and a total team effort got the Chargers back into the game as the home team scored the next 12 of the next 14 points and took a 70-68 lead with 2:38 to play. During the run, Goyak had four points, seniors Krissy Pennell and Naomi Otis each had three points and Hickey added another two as Lancaster Bible got production from everyone on the floor. 

Oakland City tied the game at 70-70 on a layup from Carroll with 1:31 to play and each team had a fruitless possession before the Chargers got the ball back with 30 seconds to play. After a timeout, Lancaster Bible worked the ball around and Pennell found Hickey just inside the 3-point line and just like she did two weeks ago, Hickey found nothing but net and gave the Chargers a 72-70 lead with 7.8 seconds to play. The Lady Oaks had a chance, but Wilson's prayer as time expired hit the back of the rim and came back out.

By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 49.2 percent (31-of-63) from the floor and 6-of-15 from 3-point range...Oakland City show 36.3 percent (29-of-80) and 8-of-26 from beyond the arc...The Lady Oaks were just 2-of-14 from distance in the second half...Hickey led all scorers with 21 points and grabbed five rebounds...Goyak had 15 points and 22 boards, while Webster was the third player in double figures with 11 points and seven assists...Pennell finished with nine points and nine assists to go with four rebounds and two steals...Otis and Morgan each added eight points and combined to go 7-of-12 from the field...Wilson led the Lady Oaks with 13 points and six assists.

The Coach Says: "We didn't really have any expectations going into tonight's game because we had no common opponents with Oakland City and just didn't know what to expect," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Katelyn Vanderhoff said. "We just wanted to be ready to play and we felt good after having a nice break."

On the Offense: "We are hard to defend when all five players on the floor can score and tonight we were able to do that," Vanderhoff said.

On Pennell: "She calms us down and is a steadying force," Vanderhoff said. "She has lots of confidence and gives everyone on the floor lots of confidence."

On Goyak: "Her ability to read the ball off the rim is amazing and she is so determined," Vanderhoff said. "I'm very happy she got the record tonight, it's a big deal for her and the program."

On Hickey: "She hits big shots and isn't afraid to take them," Vanderhoff said. "Just another great shot from her."

On Next Round Opponent Ohio Christian: "We have a little more familiarity with Ohio Christian as we played them last season and we understand what kind of basketball they want to play," Vanderhoff said.

Information Hodge Podge: Lancaster Bible is now 1-0 against Oakland City as Tuesday was the first time the teams had met...The 70 points scored by Oakland City were a season-low and 29.5 points below its average...Lancaster Bible finishes the year with an 11-3 record at Horst Athletic Center...The teams tied 30-30 in the second half which was key for the Chargers as they entered the game outscoring opponents by just eight in the second half, while Oakland City had outscored opponents by 359 points in the second half of games this season...This is the fifth straight season Lancaster Bible has won 20 or more games...Hickey and Goyak became just the third and fourth players in program history to score 500 or more points in a season on Tuesday night as Hickey has 511 and Goyak has 504...The previous record for rebounds in a season was 579, set by Carla Gadsden of New Jersey City during the 1982 season...Goyak now has 596 rebounds and is poised to crack the 600-rebound mark on Friday night...The all-time record holder for rebounds in a season in any division is Francine Perry who had 635 rebounds during the 1982 season...With four rebounds, Goyak will become just the second player in NCAA Women's Basketball history with 600 or more rebounds in a season.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible squares off with Ohio Christian on Friday night in Rochester, N.Y. at 8 p.m...The game will be played on the campus of Roberts Wesleyan.