Matt Barker, Sports Information Director

BILLINGS, Mont. - For just the second time in program history, the Freed-Hardeman women's basketball team has advanced to the NAIA Tournament Finals following a 61-50 victory over University of Montana-Western in the semifinal round of the NAIA National Tournament Monday evening at the Rimrock Auto Arena in Billings, Montana.

With the victory, the Lady Lions advance to play Westmont (Calif.) in the NAIA Championship game to be held Tuesday evening at 8:00 PM C.S.T. That game will be broadcast on ESPN 3. One-seeded Westmont defeated four-seeded Wayland Baptist (Texas) 56-54 in the other semifinal match-up, which followed FHU's match-up Monday evening.

Throughout the first three rounds of the NAIA Tournament, slow starts have been the mantra for the Lady Lions (33-4). However, Monday evening was a different story, as FHU jumped out to an early 13-point lead and held a 19-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter, courtesy of hot shooting by Sandrea Sylman, who torched the twine with 10 of FHU's 19 points in the opening stanza.

However, despite the early lead for the Lady Lions, the Bulldogs from Montana Western (27-8) would live up to their name and claw back into the game in the second quarter. Leaning on their top scorer, Brianna King, the Bulldogs went on a 9-2 run with five minutes remaining in the half to close the gap to four points at the 30-26 mark entering the break. King led the Bulldogs in the first half, as she fired in 16 of UMW's 26 points.

Despite letting the Bulldogs close the gap to four points to end the first half, the Lady Lions turned things around to start the second half, as they extended their lead back to double digits at the 41-30 mark following a jump shot by senior leader Kim Mallory. The Lady Lions continued to match UMW's rally point by point to take a 41-32 lead entering the final quarter of play.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Lady Lions, as they reached their largest lead of the half at the 55-41 mark with 2:36 remaining in regulation on their way to a 61-50 victory.

Sandrea Sylman led the Lady Lions on the attack in the victory, as she fired in 24 points, 19 of which came in the first three quarters. Kim Mallory followed close behind with 12 points and seven rebounds while Tiffany Pate held things down on the defensive front and pulled down 15 rebounds and recorded three blocks in the win.

The Lady Lions shot 43 percent from the field and 26 percent from behind the arc compared to University of Montana-Western, who shot 34 percent from the field and 26 percent from three-point range. The Lady Lions also lived up to their reputation as a defensive team, as they forced an impressive 17 turnovers while snagging 12 steals in the process, led by Sylman who had four steals in the match-up.

"I thought we did a good job of denying their penetration and cutting down their three-point baskets in the first half," said Dale Neal, head coach for the Lady Lion basketball team. "In the second quarter we put them on the free throw line too much and allowed them to stage a comeback. However, in the third quarter we did a good job of influencing them to play to their weaknesses and that really helped us to finish the game strong and pick up the victory."

With the win, the Lady Lions improve to 33-4 on the season while the Bulldogs of Montana Western end their season with a record of 27-8.