Christie Carrico scored a career high 30 points in MU's upset win over #6 Davenport on Saturday.

CALEDONIA, Mich. – A career best 30-point effort from Christie Carrico (Waterford, Mich.) along with two clutch free throws with 12 seconds left from Cali Crawford (Rochester, Mich.) helped the Madonna women’s basketball team pull the upset for the second straight season in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Semi-finals as MU took down WHAC regular season champion and sixth ranked Davenport 67-64 inside Duncan Lake School on Saturday. The win sends Madonna (14-16) into the 2008 WHAC Championship against Aquinas on Tuesday at 7:30pm..

DU took the early 2-0 lead on a Kristin Bergsma layup, but MU answered right back, getting a score from Caryn Inman (Oxford, Mich.) to knot the game at 2-2 with 19:21 on the clock. Inman gave the Crusaders their first lead of the day, knocking down a triple from the left corner and making it 5-2 MU with just over 17 minutes left in the first half. The Crusaders pushed the lead out to six on scores by Carrico and Crawford before the Panthers came back to tie the game at 13-13 on a Sara Haverdink layup with 13:48 left.

Davenport took the lead back and pushed it to five on a pair of occasions, the last coming via a Kallie Benike jumper with just over 10 minutes left on the clock. MU climbed back into the game, using a pair of Inman charity tosses and a long triple from the right corner by Lauhnna Waybrant (Ortonville, Mich.) to make it 22-all with 8:11 left.

The two teams traded scores over the next five minutes with neither side gaining a lead of more than five. Carrico then tied the score at 29-29 with a layup from Crawford. MU took the lead back with a free throw from Alyssa Guerin (Plymouth, Mich.) to make it 30-29. Two more Guerin free throws to go along with a triple and a score from Carrico pushed the Madonna lead to eight at 37-29 heading into halftime.

The Panthers came out on a 10-2 run to open the second half and tied the score at 39-39, the sixth tie of the game. The Crusaders then took the lead back, pushing it up to six, using the inside game and taking advantage of free throws. Carrico started the run by making a layup to make it 41-39. Inman then scored and was fouled, converting her free throw to make it 44-39 MU. Inman then made another free throw, this one coming after she was fouled again to push the lead to six at 45-39.

Davenport then cut the lead down to two before Madonna pushed the lead back to six at 51-47 with 9:43 on a Carrico hoop and harm. The Crusaders used Carrico’s presence in the paint as they went inside to her on 10 of the 11 trips during a run that saw them maintain the lead over the favored Panthers. Benike cut the lead down to two with a pair of free throws and then tied the score on a layup with 7:44 left, making it 51-51. She converted the free throw to give DU the lead back at 52-51.

After DU made it 53-51, Carrico cut the deficit down to one at 53-52 on a free throw and then gave Madonna the lead back on a triple from the left corner to make it 55-53. The junior forward then converted both of her free throw attempts on the next trip to push the lead back up to four at 57-53. Crawford made it a six point lead on a runner in the lane at 61-55 with 3:49 showing on the clock.

Davenport tied the game (the eighth of the day) at 62-62 on another Benike jumper with 1:57 left in the game. Tabatha Wydryck (Riverview, Mich.) then gave MU a three point lead by canning a triple from the top of the key with 1:08 left.

Wydryck would be whistled for her fifth foul on the next play down the court and WHAC Player of the Year Jeanette Woodberry made both free throws to cut the DU deficit to one at 65-64 with 46 seconds left in the game.

Crawford then had the ball and drove down the left side of the key as the shot clock ran down to single digits. Just as the shot clock was about to expire, DU fouled Crawford and sent her to the line for two shots with just 12 seconds left in the game.

The senior point guard calmly sank the first shot and after a DU time out, sank the second, giving Madonna a 67-64 lead. Woodberry’s desperation three at the buzzer fell short and Madonna had pulled the upset over the top-seeded Panthers for the second straight season.

Carrico led all players with her 30, while Inman posted a double-double with 13 points to go along with 13 rebounds. Benike led DU with 20 points.

Madonna now moves on to face third-seeded Aquinas College on Tuesday night for the right to advance to the NAIA National Championship. The Crusader Radio Network will carry the game live, with pregame coverage slated for 7:20pm from Grand Rapids.