PITTSBURG STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Karenna Gerber of Halstead scored a game-high 24 points, including a key basket with 59 seconds remaining in regulation to help the Pittsburg State University women's basketball team seal a 66-55 victory over Lubbock Christian University in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Monday (Mar. 24).
The win sends the Gorillas into the Division II Final Four for the first time in program history. Pitt State (33-3), the No. 4 seed in the Elite Eight field, will meet top-seeded Grand Valley State University (36-2) at 7:30 p.m. (CDT) Wednesday (Mar. 26) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Lakers dispatched No. 8 seed Gannon University, 60-32, earlier Monday.
Gerber made 10 of 19 shots from the floor in the game. Her final bucket, an inside shot in the paint, stretched the Gorillas margin to seven points, 60-53, with 59 ticks left, after LCU had battled back to within five points on Grace Foster's jumper with 1:17 to go.
The Lady Chaps (32-5), who upset Division II's top-ranked squad Texas Woman's University in the South Central Regional Championship Game to reach the Elite Eight, could get no closer down the stretch. Maci Maddox missed an inside shot and Pitt State's Savannah Campbell rebounded. LCU was forced to foul Grace Pyle of McPherson and she made a pair of free throws with 45 seconds remaining to stretch the lead to nine, 62-53.
LCU missed two more shots from the floor, before Pyle was fouled and knocked down two more charity shots with 22 ticks to go to effectively seal the victory.
Gerber posted her program record 15th double-double of the season and she extended her career record to 36 double-doubles with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Pyle chipped in with 16 points while Maycee James also finished in double figures with 11 points. Pyle added five rebounds and six assists to her stat line.
The Gorillas outscored the Lady Chaps, 15-6, at the free throw line in the contest. Pitt State shot 40.4 percent from the field in the game (23-57), but the Gorillas owned a 12-4 advantage on the offensive glass.
Foster paced LCU with 23 points, while Maddox and Audrey Robertson added 11 apiece.
The Gorillas previously reached the Elite Eight in 2012 and 2016 with Pitt State falling each time in the national quarterfinals. In 2016, GVSU defeated the Gorillas, 59-56, at Sioux Falls, S.D. The Lakers ultimately lost to Alaska Anchorage in the Final Four that year.