GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A 25-5 start to the WHAC Semifinal proved to be too enough as the No. 1 Lady Panthers advanced to their third tournament championship game in a row and fourth in the last six years by defeating Madonna 91-74.  Davenport (32-0) will host the No. 2 seed Concordia University on Monday at 7:30pm.

The opening run gave Davenport a 20-point lead and it grew to as large as 24 in the opening half before the Crusaders rallied to trail by only 10 with 15:10 remaining in the game.  DU held strong behind the all-around play of senior Kristi Boehm (Kent City, Mich.) and rebounding of junior Riana Hensley (Toledo, Ohio) to post the 17-point win.

After a 16-0 start against Aquinas in the first round of the tournament, Davenport started just as strong today scoring 25 of the first 30 points just over 10 minutes into the game. Eight different Lady Panthers scored during the run highlighted by six points from Kallie Benike (Campbellsport, Wis.).

Madonna came right back with a 7-0 run of their own to get within 13 but the shots continued to fall for the Lady Panthers as they scored 14 of the next 17 points to post a 39-15 lead with 3:13 remaining in the opening half.  The run was finished by a jumper from Barb Clayborn (Michigan Center) after the senior grabbed one of 26 offensive rebounds for DU in the game.

A jumper from Riana Hensley at the buzzer to end the first half gave DU a 49-32 lead heading into the locker room.  Davenport's defense limited the Crusaders to only eight field goals in the first half as the visitors finished with more made free-throws (15) than shots from the floor.

Madonna, who Davenport has played in the last four WHAC Tournaments, came out firing in the first part of the second half and got the lead back to 10 (58-48) with 15:10 to play in the game. The lead would hover between 11 and 16 points for the next five plus minutes until Davenport started hitting some outside shots from Leah Sevcik (Kewaunee, Wis.) and Carrie Grubius (Kalamazoo, Mich.) to keep the lead around 20.

Kristi Boehm was outstanding for Davenport as the senior finished with a team leading 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.  Riana Hensley posted her third double-double of the year with 13 points and a game high 14 rebounds (7 offensive and 7 defensive).

Other Lady Panthers to finish in double-figures were Kallie Benike with 12, Carrie Grubius with 11 and Karlee Despres (Belmont, Mich.) with 10 off the bench.

Although the shooting was ice cold for both teams (Davenport – 35.6% and Madonna 34.8%) it was the defense of the home team and offensive rebounding that became the difference as DU forced 20 turnovers and picked up 26 rebounds on the offensive glass.  Davenport outscored Madonna 17-9 off turnovers and converted those offensive rebounds into 25 second chance points.

Davenport, who will be making its third straight appearance in the WHAC Tournament Championship game, will host the No. 2 seed Concordia University at 7:30pm on Monday, February 28.