Eagles Make It to Regional Semifinals

Entering the NCCAA DII North Regional Tournament as the #5 seed, the Lady Eagles took on #4 Providence University College in their opening game Thursday night. Faith came out swinging with an impressive first quarter, doubling the Pilots points, 26-13. After taking a 38-29 lead into half, Faith maintained the nine point advantage until the final ten minutes. The Pilots opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back threes to cut the deficit to just three. Faith prevented the lead from being cut any closer, and Senior Shannon Steffen stepped up late, scoring 8 of Faith's final 12 points, to lead the Eagles to a 64-53 victory.

Shannon Steffen had one of her biggest offensive games of the year with her 22 points. Michaela Crider's 14 points and 10 rebounds secured her a double-double. Lyndi Shepard also contributed to the offense with her 15 points and was just 2 rebounds shy of a double-double of her own. The upset over Providence advanced the Eagles to the semifinal game where #1 overall seeded Emmaus Bible College waited.

The Eagles' game with Emmaus was the fourth meeting this season and the second time in one week. The first quarter was played tight and relatively low scoring, considering Emmaus's history of surging offense. The Eagles found themselves up by one, 13-12, after the first ten; however, they ran into offensive struggles in the second quarter. Emmaus limited Faith to just 2 points the entire quarter and were up 25-15 at halftime. Emmaus outscored Faith yet again in the third to give themselves a comfortable lead. Despite the offense picking up for the Eagles in the fourth quarter, the inability to get defensive stops limited their chances to cut into Emmaus lead. Ultimately, the Eagles fell to Emmaus for the fourth time this season, 46-63. 

Faith had three players honored at the Regional Award Banquet. Shannon Steffen and Bekah Smith were named Honorable Mentions, while Lyndi Shepard was voted 2nd Team All-Region. The Lady Eagles finished out the 2017-18 season with an 11-13 record overall.