No. 2 Kirkwood women escape SCC
One stunning upset of Kirkwood in the regional tournament last week was tough to digest when the men's basketball team fell by the wayside, but two upsets would have been a complete disaster.
Fortunately for Kirkwood, their women's team found a way to survive and advance Saturday at Johnson Hall.
The second-ranked Eagles escaped a major upset bid by Southeastern, 59-52, in the regional semifinals with their 20th straight win to keep their national title hopes alive.
Kirkwood (30-3) faces 12th-ranked NIACC (26-6) in the regional finals Sunday at 1 p.m. at Johnson Hall.
Kirkwood whipped Southeastern by 21 and 25 points during the regular season, but it was a five-point game at 55-50 with 3:45 left with the outcome seriously in doubt Saturday.
"I felt like we struggled a lot because we weren't ready to play," said sophomore point guard Tayana Wilson. "We thought because we beat them 20-plus points the first two times we played them that we would walk in and just do the same thing.