Davenport University fell just 10 points shy of advancing to the Fab Four of the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship. In a quarterfinal game, the Panthers lost to defending national champion Northwestern College (Iowa), 76-66, to end their season with a school-best 31-3 record.

Davenport battled back from an early deficit to pull to within one point, but Northwestern continued to find the open shooter and built as much as a 12 point lead in the first half. The Panthers pulled to within seven after long shots from Karlee Despres and Brittany Lyman to close out the first half with a 41-34 score.

Davenport's defense, stellar all season, opened the second half allowing two quick scores for the Panthers to make the score 41-38 before Northwestern again pushed to a double-digit lead. Davenport was forced to send Northwestern to the charity stripe during the second half, but the Red Raiders converted on 20-of-24 free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

Poor shooting hampered Davenport the entire game. The Panthers shot just 28.2% from the field in the second half and finished the game with a shooting percentage of 33.3%. DU also struggled from the free throw line, connecting on just 76.9% of the free shots.

Lyman finished with 11 points for Davenport. Janelle Bagneski and Despres each added 10 points. Bagneski and Kallie Benike each pulled down seven rebounds.

Northwestern (26-8) advances to its third Fab Four appearance in the last four years.

NAIA Release    |   Davenport Release