BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (February 27, 2019) - Unfortunately, the Lane College Athletics' record books do not go back far enough to see when the last time the Lady Dragons advanced to the semifinals of a post season basketball tournament. But, they do go back over a decade and there is no record of what happened on Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the 2019 SIAC Basketball Championship Tournament at Bill Harris Arena at the Birmingham Crossplex.

Firstly, the Lane College women's basketball team knocked off the No. 1 seed in the East, Benedict College, a team that was 15-0 in conference play heading into the matchup with the Lady Dragons, 74-61. Secondly, they won their second game in three days by double figures, leading the Lady Tigers by as many as 16 points in the final ten minutes of play. 

Lady Dragons' Head Coach Kimberly Anderson first gave all Glory to God. But then, she gave many compliments and respect to her players, especially her seniors. 

"God gives gifts according to His grace and mercy," Anderson said. "So, each gift tonight complimented each other."

Four Lady Dragons finished in double-figures, led by senior guard Antrice McCoy, who finished with a team-high 21 points, shooting 50 percent from the floor and 2-of-3 from behind the arc. She also had three steals, four rebounds, and three assists. The Jacksonville, Arkansas native said that she and her teammates were just not ready to go home.

"I'm a senior coming in and I'm a point guard," McCoy said. "I was just trying to get my teammates involved and be a leader out there."

Junior forward Alexis Harris finished just behind McCoy with 16 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the field. Harris said despite the undefeated record, she and her teammates knew if they played as a team, they had a good shot to pull off the upset.

"Their record is obviously better than ours but we obviously wanted it more," Harris said. "We knew that playing as a team would get us this victory.

"So we played hard and did what we had to do. Everybody did their role and that's why we got the W."

Sophomore forward Porche' Hannah finished with her second straight double-double of this tournament, dropping in 12 points and pulling in 10 rebounds, also adding four blocks in the game. Hannah, when asked about her aggressive play in the tournament, reiterated her teammates sentiments. 

"My motivation is my sisters," Hannah said. "I call my teammates my sisters. And I knew it was just go hard or go home."

Redshirt senior guard Addie McNeely added 11 points, shooting 3-of-7 from 3-point range. She also pulled in five rebounds, adding three assists and a steal. McNeely said after falling to Benedict early, only to come back and tie the game when the two teams met on November 26th of this season, it gave the team the confidence to know that, although Benedict was undefeated, they were not unbeatable.

"I knew they were definitely beatable," McNeely said. "That first time, when they had us down 12-0, that hurt us a little bit. So, our focus going into this game was to just go ahead and get up as many points as we could so we didn't have to struggle to come back.

"So, once we got up, it just helped us with our confidence."

The Lady Dragons now await the winner of the matchup between Lemoyne-Owen and Central State, being play on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The winner of that game will take on the Lady Dragons at 5:30 p.m. CST on Friday for a right to advance to the SIAC Basketball Championship game at 4 p.m. CST on Saturday.