No. 5 Tigers Knock Off No. 1 Lions, Advance to the Quarterfinals

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The No. 5-seeded Georgetown College women's basketball team (25-8) defeated the No. 1 overall seeded Freed-Hardeman University (29-4) 74-68 in overtime in the Round of 16 of the 2026 NAIA Women's Basketball National Championships on Thursday to advance to the Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon.

Georgetown opened Mid-South Conference play with a 76-74 road loss to the Lions on January 8 before falling 89-61 to FHU on January 29 at home. The win over FHU is the first this season, and the first in three tries in NAIA National Championship tournament play as well.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Daisy Gale dominated from the tip in this one as the sophomore made the first eight points of the day for Georgetown, who commanded a 14-6 lead at the opening media timeout. The Tigers were firing on nearly all cylinders early, making five of their first 10 shots from the field. Georgetown took a 21-15 lead into the second period behind 12 first-quarter points from Gale.
 
Georgetown hit the opening two buckets of the second quarter and led by as many as 11 points in the frame when Gale hit one of her three first-half 3-pointers. Freed-Hardeman would not go quietly, though, as the Lions strung together a 9-0 run to pull back within 26-24 with just over two minutes to play in the half. The final two minutes of the half saw Georgetown hit two field goals while FHU connected on a pair of foul shots to make it a 31-28 game at the break.

Opposite the case all season, the Tigers struggled out of the gates to start the third quarter. Freed-Hardeman used a 13-1 run to pull ahead 41-32 with 3:45 to play in the quarter. Georgetown trailed 45-39 after three quarters, managing just eight points in the frame. 

Back-to-back 3-pointers marked the start of the fourth as Georgetown was facing a 52-44 deficit at the media timeout. Out of the break, Freeman completed her three-point play, and the Tigers scored the next 10 points to push ahead 55-54 with just under two minutes to play. Some big stops coupled with some big plays from Freeman settled things at 60-60 through regulation. 

In overtime, it was all Tigers. Anna Long scored the first three points of the extra period before Freeman sank a huge 3-pointer to push Georgetown back on top, 67-64, after she completed the four-point play. Daysha Reid hit the dagger with just over a minute to play as the Mid-South Conference Freshman of the Year drilled a 3-pointer to make it a 70-64 game.

THE TEAM 
Georgetown shot 36.7% from the field. The Tigers were 9-20 (45.0%) from deep and were 21-30 (70.0%) at the free-throw line. FHU outrebounded GC, 49-43. The Tigers picked up 10 assists and created four steals.

THE PLAYERS
* Daisy Gale had a team-high 25 points with nine rebounds and two steals.
* Kayra Freeman added 21 points with six rebounds and three assists.
* Daysha Reid finished with 17 points with nine rebounds and two assists.

UP NEXT
With the win, the Tigers have advanced to the quarterfinals for the fifth time in program history. The last time the Tigers advanced this far was during their 2012 run to the Fab Four. Georgetown also advanced to the quarterfinals in 1993, 2001, and 2005.