#25 Mustangs roll past Metro State, to face #4 Colorado Mesa in finals
By: Tobin McDuff/MSU Sports Information Dept.
Updated: March 17, 2013
No. 25 Midwestern State simply dominated the opening half then cruised to a 66-52 NCAA Division II South Central Region semifinal win over Metro State (Colo.) Saturday night at Brownson Arena.
The Mustangs move on to face Colorado Mesa, a 78-68 winner over Texas-Permian Basin for the regional championship Monday night at 8 p.m. (Central Time) for the right to move on to the Elite Eight beginning March 26 in San Antonio.
Junior guard Kirsti Degelia poured in four of her five 3-pointers in the opening half and beat the buzzer before intermission to extend MSU's lead to 42-19.
The Mustangs blistered the nets at a 53.3-percent clip in the opening half while stifling the Roadrunners to 7-of-28 shooting (25 percent) from the field.
MSU pushed the advantage to 51-21 on Degelia's fifth trey of the contest six minutes into the second half.
She finished the game with a game-high 20 points on her way to becoming just the 11th player in program history to tally 500 points in a single season. Degelia now stands eighth on the list with 506 points.
Sophomore forward Andrea Carter notched her 17th double-double of the season finishing with 11 points and 14 rebounds as 10 different MSU players found the scoring column.
Sophomore guard Dianna Jones added to MSU's balanced attack with 9 points while sophomore post Taylor Dowd pitched in five. Shatoia Gober, Shambreka Jones, Ashley Rush and Skyler Warrick added four points each.
Midwestern State claimed its 26th win of the campaign which stands as the second most in program history. Only the 1993-94 squad posted more victories with 28.
Metro State ends its run of regional final appearances as two as the Roadrunners advanced to the Elite Eight in 2011 before falling in the same Round of 16 last season. MSU-D ends the season at 21-10.
