The Central Methodist women's basketball team punched its ticket to the Heart semifinals with a 69-44 victory over Missouri Valley College in the conference tournament quarterfinals at homeThursday night. 

With the win, the Eagles advance to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the fifth time in the last seven seasons, improving their overall record to 26-4. Missouri Valley ended its season with a 17-12 mark. 

CMU came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, holding the Vikings to just six points. The second frame was more evenly balanced for both teams, as Central held an 18-16 advantage. Coming out of the locker room with a 41-22 lead, Central once again held Missouri Valley to just six points in the third. 

Despite MVC outscoring Central 16-14 in the final quarter, it proved not to be enough as CMU cruised to a 25-point victory. 

Senior guard Kedranea' Addison led Central's offense with 15 points in only 16 minutes of action off the bench. Addison grabbed six rebounds, and tallied two steals and one assist. The trio of senior Arleighshya McElroy, junior Daryna Bachkarova, and freshman Leianya Massenat each chipped in 12 points apiece. McElroy also recorded 12 rebounds to earn a double-double while Massenat pulled down eight boards. 

Junior Eternati Willock nearly cracked double figures with eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds, including nine on the offensive glass. The forward also added three assists and two steals. 

Central's stingy defense forced 26 Viking turnovers which included 19 steals. Bachkarova and McElroy led the way with five steals each, followed by Massenat with four and sophomore Jaicia Canady three. CMU controlled the boards with 55 total rebounds compared to 42 for MVC. Twenty-one of Central's 55 rebounds came on the offensive glass. 

The Eagles moved on to host Benedictine College in the Heart semifinals on Saturday to determine who would advance to the final. CMU swept the regular-season series between the two schools. 

Central defeated Benedictine 75-5 on Saturday to advance to the tournament final. For the full story on that game, see above.