HENDERSON — For the first time since the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship combined divisions and moved its final site to Sioux City, Iowa in 2021, the No. 2 seed Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions earned a trip to Iowa with a 68-47 victory over the No. 7 seed Florida Memorial University Lions in the 2025 NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship Presented by Ballogy.
The Lady Lions (27-5) started the game strong with
Rachel Satterly and
Jenna Satterly trading layups to help FHU storm out of the gates to a 14-2 lead. Because three of the four makes for the FMU Lions, the buzzer-beating triple ended the first quarter with FHU leading 19-11.
The Satterlys opened the second period as well with R. Satterly hitting a 3-pointer before J. Satterly's free throws gave Freed-Hardeman's lead over Florida Memorial  (24-5) a 13-point edge.
Lilly Kee and
Brooklyn Crouch joined with layups before J. Satterly ended the half by scoring six of FHU's last eight points. With one half in the books, the FHU Lady Lions led 38-21.
Kaylee Odom stood strong in the third quarter, tallying back-to-back layups with Alaiana Stiles joining with a layup. The quarter belonged to J. Satterly who scored 10 points all by herself: six of which were from the charity stripe. With four straight free throws to end the quarter, FHU led 56-35 with 10 more minutes to play.
Kelsey Bender opened the finale with a layup before R. Satterly's 3-pointer giving FHU their largest lead of 26. Late free throws from each team settled the score in the FHU 68-47 victory.
FMU had the rare feat of a team grabbing more offensive rebounds than defensive, with 19 of their 30 rebounds coming on the offensive glass. The Lady Lions commanded the key with FHU scoring 38 points in the paint to FMU's eight. The Lady Lions dished out 11 assists to the opposition's four.
Jenna Satterly dropped a season-high 27 points. She was one free throw shy of the record of 16 set by Taleeah Cross in 2018 by going 15-15 from the line.
Rachel Satterly knocked down all three 3-pointers for FHU to help her to 13 points.
Kaylee Odom was 5-10 from the floor to score 11.
Kelsey Bender led at the glass with seven rebounds.
Â
Up Next
The Lady Lions will travel to the Tyson Events center where the round of 16 features the Lady Lions and the 14th-seeded Indiana Tech Warriors. Tipoff is scheduled for March 21 at 1:00 p.m.Â
