SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Holy Family University Tigers rallied from a nine-point deficit in the second half to beat the University of Maine-Farmington Beavers 71-66 in first-round action of the NAIA Division II women’s basketball tourney Wednesday.

UMF, ranked seventh in its quarterfinal bracket, played well against No. 2 Holy Family of Philadelphia, which made its eighth straight trip to the national tourney.

The Beavers featured a balanced scoring attack with Kate LaHaye and Megan Woodcock each scoring 14 points and Jocelyn Sawyer chipping in with 11. Hannah Socoby added nine puts and Lydia Coverdale put in eight along with five assists.

The Tigers also featured balance as Lauren Tanel scored 19 points, Karyn Connors put in 17 and Ashley Dunek added 13.

Holy Family controlled the rebounding game with a strong 47-34 advantage led by Kristina Weise’s 13 and Tanel’s 12. LaHaye grabbed eight for UMF.

After Holy Family led by as much as six throughout the first half, the Beavers closed it to 36-35 at the half and started the second half on a 9-0 scoring run to take a 44-36 lead with 16:56 left in the game.

Woodcock sparked the surge by scoring seven of the nine points, including a 3-pointer, and Coverdale chipped in with a basket.

UMF maintained its lead over the next two minutes and upped it to 52-43 when Woodcock nailed another 3-pointer with 14:30 remaining.

The Tigers then responded with the decisive scoring surge of the game when they outscored the Beavers 15-0 over the next six minutes to take a 58-52 lead with 8:26 left.

Woodcock finally scored to end the scoring drought for UMF, but the Tigers remained in control and upped their lead to 65-56 with 6:09 remaining.

The Beavers responded with their final strong spurt with a 3-pointer by LaHaye and a Sawyer basket in the lane to cut the lead down to 65-61 with 4:40 left. The Tigers maintained that four-point edge in the final minutes until the 43-second mark when Coverdale hit a free throw to cut it 69-66.

The Tigers missed their next two field goals, but UMF was unable to grab the rebound and Tanel hit two free throws with four seconds left to help Holy Family secure its victory.

The Tigers, now 29-1, advanced to Friday’s second round against the winner of Holy Names (Calif.) vs. Bethel (Tenn.) UMF, the Sunrise Conference champion, finished at 24-5.

TIGERS 71, BEAVERS 66

UM-Farmington (24-5) Holy Family (29-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

LaHaye 5 9 2 2 14 Weise 4 11 10

Sawyer 4 13 3 4 11 Brown 2 8 5

Socoby 2 6 5 5 9 Connors 6 19 17

Woodcock 5 14 2 2 14 Tanel 8 14 19

Coverdale 3 5 2 4 8 Baun 2 4 4

Rideout 0 0 0 0 0 Dunek 5 9 13

Kempton 2 4 0 0 6 McGinty 0 0 0

Stanley 0 0 0 0 0 Andrews 0 0 0

Haines 0 4 2 2 2 Battinieri 0 0

Hunt 1 2 0 0 2 Chiarantona 1 1 3

Totals 22 57 16 19 66 28 71 11 15 71

UM-Farmington 35 66

Holy Family 36 71

3-pt. goals ? UMF (6-19): LaHaye 2-4, Sawyer 0-3, Socoby 0-1, Woodcock 2-5, Kempton 2-3, Haines 0-2, Hunt 0-1; Holy Family (4-11): Brown 1-4, Connors 2-4, Battinieri 0-2, Chiarantona 1-1