POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. -- Houghton women's basketball grabbed a 68-63 win over #8 Ohio Christian to advance to Friday's fifth place game at the 2025 NCCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament.

The two squads traded buckets early in the contest, with Kayla Camacho and Ashley DeWeese answering each other with a pair of threes. A jumper from Tabitha DeVries put Houghton ahead, and another triple at the buzzer from Camacho gave the Highlanders a 19-12 lead after the first quarter. Camacho and DeVries nailed a pair of jumpers in the second quarter to swell the Houghton advantage, but a layup from Amiyah Tull and a triple by DeWeese cut the Highlander lead down to three.

Both teams would lock down on defense, as neither team scored a point in the final 3:41 of the quarter, but another three-pointer from Camacho pushed Houghton ahead 29-25 at the intermission.

The threes continued to fall for both teams in the third, as triples from Ohio Christian were answered by three-balls from Houghton's Crysta Lacrosse and Hannah Farley. Koons nailed two more shots from beyond the arc, and a jumper from JoLeigh Hamilton tied the contest at 43 points apiece. Both teams traded the lead for a bit, but a last second layup by DeVries gave Houghton a 49-48 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair, but a layup from Lily Shepherd gave Ohio Christian a 57-56 lead. Tied at 59, Houghton's Lilly Bentley came up big with a putback layup to give the Highlanders the lead. After Bentley nailed a pair of free throws, a triple from Ohio Christian cut the lead down to 64-63, and with a chance to tie, a pair of shots by the Trailblazers were off the mark, as Houghton held on for the 68-63 win.

Camacho led the Highlanders with 25 points, while also dishing out five assists and pulling down six rebounds. DeVries added 23 points and collected seven boards, while Lacrosse fell just shy of a double-double, scoring 10 points and hauling down nine boards. Despite the loss, Koons scored 24 points, nailing five threes, and pulled in nine rebounds for Ohio Christian.

Houghton will now battle #7 seed University of Northwestern (Minn.) at 6 p.m. Eastern for fifth place.

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