There were 64 teams in the field at the start of the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament Friday.  At the end of the day there will be 32 and the Moccasins are one of them.
 
Using a balanced scoring attack that had all five starters scoring in double figures, the Moccasins advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time since the 1999-2000 season with a 87-74 win over Ouachita Baptist Friday at the South Regional in Russellville, Ark.
 
Coach Jarrod Olson's club improved to 26-4 and won its 11 straight game.  The Moccasins play the winner of the Delta State-North Alabama game Saturday at 9:30 p.m. (ET) in the semifinals.
 
Sunshine State Conference Player of Year Emma Cannon was hampered by foul problems, but still managed to produce her 14th straight double-double and her 22nd this season, finishing with 12 points and 14 rebounds in just 18 minutes of playing time.  She received two fouls early and left the game at the 16:04 mark.  She returned at the 10:23 mark, but picked up her third foul with 5:09 left and sat out the rest of the half.  In the second half she was called for her fourth foul with 17:03 to play and didn't return until the 7:50 mark before fouling out with 1:19 remaining.
 
Cannon's 14 rebounds gave her the FSC single-season rebounding record, breaking the previous record of 350 set by Antonia Newman in 2002-03.  Cannon now has 361.
 
The Moccasins were more than able to pick up the slack in Cannon's absence, as Michaela Hawley produced her third double-double of the season with a 14-point, 14-rebound performance and Sofie Lundberg contributed eight points off the bench.  Hawley's 14 rebounds matched her careeer high.
 
"Obviously, we're a different team when Emma isn't in there,"  Olson said in his post game remarks.  "We're actually a better shooting team with Sofie in the game, but we certainly want Emma in there for as long as possible."
 
All five Moccasin starters scored in double figures, led by Chelsea Johnson's 22 points and a career-high 18 points from Tanja Speaker.  Megan Dzikas added 10.  Johnson scored the first basket of the game on a three-pointer and that moved her past former All-American Lucresia West into second place on the FSC career scoring list.  She now has 1,980 career points.  Speaker, whose previous scoring high had been 17 points against Rollins in 2009, was 6-10 from the field, 4-7 on three-pointers, 2-2 from the free throw line and had a team-high six assists.
 
"Tonja played really well,"  Olson said.  "She was taking open shots and making them pay for double-teaming some of our other people.  She was steady with the ball.  I'm really proud of her.  It would have been a different game without her effort."
 
After leading by six at halftime, 43-37, the Moccasins built the lead to 20, 62-42, thanks to 19-5 run in the first five minutes of the second half.  The Tigers (20-9) reponded with a 9-0 run that trimmed the lead to 62-51 with 12:38 left, but they never were able to get the deficit into single digits.  Gabby Coleman led the Tigers with 23 points.
 
The Moccasins, ranked 21st nationally, hit 13 three-pointers in the game, one short of their season high, with five players connecting on at least two.