Warriors Defeat Spartans To Advance To NACC Semifinal

MILWAUKEE (WLCSports.com) – Senior Kelly Tramburg (Fall River, Wis.) scored a game-high 20 points as the third-seeded Wisconsin Lutheran College women's basketball team advanced to the NACC Tournament semifinal game with a 65-54 win over sixth-seeded Aurora on Wednesday night inside the Recreation Complex. The Warriors move on to the semifinals for the 13th consecutive season and will travel to second-seeded Edgewood on Friday.

• Final Score: Wisconsin Lutheran 65, Aurora 54
• Records: Wisconsin Lutheran (19-7, 15-5 NACC), Aurora (15-11, 11-9 NACC)
• Location: Recreation Complex, Milwaukee, Wis.

• Wisconsin Lutheran opened the game with buckets on its first two possessions to take a 4-0 lead in the first minute of play. Junior Amanda Brug (Sturtevant, Wis.) connected on a jumper after winning the tip-off and later found Kelly Tramburg cutting to the basket for a layup. Following a pair of makes from the charity stripe by Aurora, the Warriors scored six straight points to extend the early advantage to 10-2.
• Coming out of a break midway through the first quarter, Kelly Tramburg pushed the lead to 12 with a three from the top of the key. Following another made bucket, sophomore Ally Gough (Horicon, Wis.) stole the inbound pass which resulted in a pair of free throw makes by senior Tierney Woodward (Poynette, Wis.). A fast break off a rebound allowed Woodward to make an easy layup and force a Spartans timeout with the score 21-5 in the Warriors' favor.
• Aurora scored the final eight points of the first quarter to cut into the deficit and added the first five in the second quarter to trim WLC's lead to just three. Sophomore Maria Murray (Middleton, Wis.) ended the run with a layup after an offensive rebound. A three-point make by Kelly Tramburg and an and-one conversion by sophomore Jenna Mace (Wisconsin Dells, Wis.) pushed the Warriors' lead back to 11 at 31-20.
• The Spartans brought the game back to within six before Mace drained a three with 1:29 remaining in the half. A pair of free throw makes by the visitors just before half made the score 37-30 entering the break.
• Both teams traded points to open the third quarter before a trio of free throw makes extended the Warriors' lead back to double digits at 44-34. With 2:47 remaining in the quarter, Brug drained a hook shot in the paint and added a free throw 40 seconds later as WLC's advantage reached 12. Sophomore Morgan Tramburg (Fall River, Wis.) made a jumper on the wing but the Spartans were able to keep the game within single digits at 51-42 after three.
• A 5-0 Aurora run to open the fourth cut Wisconsin Lutheran's lead down to just four with 8:21 remaining. Morgan Tramburg gathered an offensive rebound on the next possesion and Mace found the bottom of the net from deep to regain a seven-point margin. Another Warriors offensive board led to a three-point make by Kelly Tramburg and Morgan Tramburg completed a three-point play 20 seconds later to give WLC a 60-48 advantage with 5:48 remaining.
• The Warriors maintained a double-digit lead for the final five minutes of the game, winning 65-54 to advance to the semifinal round.

• Four Warriors finished in double figures, led by a game-high 20 points from Kelly Tramburg. Mace poured in 17 points while Morgan Tramburg and Brug each added 11.
• Wisconsin Lutheran shot 39.0 percent (23-of-59) from the field and 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from three.
• WLC out-rebounded the Spartans 38-35, led by Kelly Tramburg who finished with nine boards. The Warriors pulled down 11 offensive rebounds, which helped them lead Aurora 10-5 in second chance points.
• Mace dished out six assists to lead the Warriors, while Kelly Tramburg added four of her own.
• WLC moved to 10-1 in first round tournament games and 5-0 in tournament games against the Spartans.

• Sydni Olson paced the Spartans in scoring, finishing with 16 points off the bench on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting. Meija Rabi added 15 points for the visitors.
• Aurora shot 32.0 percent (16-of-50) from the floor and 20.0 percent (2-of-10) from beyond the arc. The Spartans were solid from the charity stripe, connecting on 87.0 percent (20-of-23)

• The Warriors travel to second-seeded Edgewood (23-2, 18-2 NACC) on Friday for a NACC Tournament semifinal matchup against the Eagles at 7:00 p.m. The two teams split the season series with both teams winning at home. Live stats and video will be available for the game at WLCSports.com.