Cumberland (Tenn.) continued the trend of No. 1 and No. 2 seed victories Friday, as the Bulldogs (32-2) defeated Benedictine (Kan.), 65-54, to advance to the 2013 NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championships quarterfinals at the Frankfort Convention Center.

The Bulldogs advance will meet Lubbock Christian (Texas) in their first NAIA quarterfinal since 2007, the year Cumberland finished runner-up to Vanguard (Calif.).

Jessica Pace and Josette Campbell each scored 12 points, while Briannica Tye had 11 to lead the Bulldogs past No. 11 Benedictine, which was making its first appearance in the NAIA DI championships.

Cumberland held a small lead through the first nine minutes of the game, before Liz Stinson gave the Ravens a brief lead, 11-10. It was the first of four lead changes over a one minute span, but Cumberland posted an 11-2 run to go up by eight, its largest lead of the opening half.

Benedictine, which could hardly miss in its first NAIA DI Championships win Thursday, shot only 28.6 percent from the floor in the first half and finished slightly above 30 percent for the game.

Cumberland sank 47.6 of its shots in the second half to break the game open. A narrow, 31-27, halftime lead was cut to two, 33-31, about four and a half minutes into the second half. Cumberland used an 8-0 run to reach a double-digit lead, 43-33. The score was all in jeopardy once, as the Ravens cut it to a five-point game, 49-44, with 8:12 to play, but the Bulldogs remained steady down the stretch.

The Bulldogs received 21 points from its bench.

Benedictine was led by Liz Stinson’s 17 points.

The Ravens finish the season with a 28-6 record after recording their first win in the NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Championships on Thursday over Bethel (Tenn.).

Cumberland, which won the Mid-South Conference regular season and tournament championships, is the only remaining MSC team of six that qualified for the tournament.

— NAIA Press Release —