Box Score By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
MUSKOGEE, Okla. – Being tabbed second in Region 2 in preseason coaches voting, Murray State women's coach Nate Levine felt his team was slighted and had some to prove.

The Lady Aggies did just that in emphatic fashion, cruising to the league's regular season title and followed that up with a dominant run through the Region 2 postseason tournament, capped by a 62-38 throttling of second seed Northeastern Oklahoma A&M on Saturday night.

Murray State's 13^th straight victory improved their overall record to 28-3 on the season as well as punching the Lady Aggies' ticket back to the NJCAA Division 2 National Tournament that begins March 25 in Casper, Wyoming.

"I felt we were the best team in the league all along, even though we weren't picked to win the title, so we have been on a mission to prove it," Levine stated. "Those preseason polls just added more fuel to our fire, with all the experience we had returning. We know deep down that we shouldn't have lost the one conference game that we did. We blew an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter at home. We avenged that convincingly at their place (NEO) and that gave us confidence that we could do it again tonight on a neutral court."

While the Lady Aggies had ridden an explosive offense most of the season, it was the Murray State defense that put on a show in the tournament championship tilt as they squelched the Lady Norse from the get go.

Murray State reeled off a 7-0 scoring run to begin the game and squelched the NEO offense to only four points over the first 10 minutes as they led 12-4 through one period. It was a 30-19 advantage at halftime before Levine's troops really turned things on in the third stanza while outscoring the Lady Norse 23-8 in the frame.

Olivia Quapaw, Mya Cotto and Ongolea Afu all tallied 14 points to lead the charge for Murray State. Despite being the smallest player on the floor, Quapaw also posted a double-double while contributing 10 rebounds. Afu chipped in nine boards.

The Lady Aggies also got eight points each from Keshanti Gordon and Arissa Garcia with Mireia Casas adding four.

"We played really well in the second and third quarter," Levine said. "Our defensive game plan was the same as at their place and it worked really well. It was one of our best defensive efforts of the season. I was pleased how we played exactly to the scouting report. We were very balanced offensively as well with everyone contributing. We didn't hit as many threes as we have been hitting lately so it was fortunate that we really didn't need it."

The Lady Aggies now await their seeding and pairing in the national tournament, qualifying for the third time in the past four seasons. They'll have several quality marks on their side with a road win over perennial power Grayson County as well a nearly stunning defending Division 1 national champ Hutchinson on the road.

Levine, who is from Salt Lake City (roughly five hours from Casper), expects some of his family will be able to attend the event and watch his Lady Aggies in action.

"It will be nice to have some family in attendance," he added. "I feel like with our schedule and success, that we have shown we have the talent to compete with anyone in the field."