No question about WW South's 20th win

Last season Wheaton Warrenville South struggled through a six-win season that came to a close with a loss in a regional play-in game.

Tuesday night the fourth-seeded Tigers knocked off Neuqua Valley 49-32 to record their 20th win of the season and to advance to Thursday's regional final against either No. 6 Hinsdale Central or No. 10 Hinsdale South.

"After last year 20 wins for these girls is quite an accomplishment," WW South coach Rob Kroehnke said. "Everybody's stepped up and it's a lot of fun to watch."

Opponents may not always like watching the Tigers (20-9) patient offense and defensive-minded style, but pleasing your foes is not the name of the game. On Thursday the Wildcats managed just one Amber Smith basket while trailing 8-2 after one quarter.

Jackie Geffinger, who would foul out in the third quarter with a team-high 9 points, then added a pair of 3s in the second quarter, but that was it for Neuqua, which trailed 17-8 at the intermission.

"We really pride ourselves on defense," said Tigers senior Caitlin Schwark, who had 11 points and 8 rebounds on Thursday. "To come out strong like that from the start gave us the confidence."

With Annie Shain connecting on a pair 3-pointers in each half, and Schwark adding a couple 3s, the Tigers' rebounding and defense pretty much took care of the rest.

"I thought we did a nice job handling their pressure, but even more than that it was our defense and rebounding," Kroehnke said. "We didn't shoot great, but when you rebound and play defense like that you're going to be in pretty good shape."

Neuqua's Shannon Larson scored a three-point play late in the third quarter to pull within 25-16, but Shain's two 3s helped lift the Tigers to a 31-18 lead heading to the final quarter.

"The girls were doing a great job of getting me open and then getting me the ball," said Shain, who led a balanced WW South attack with 12 points and 3 assists. "When we play great defense it makes offense a lot easier."

Destiny Neal had 9 points and Katie Ottolin 8 points and 8 boards for the Tigers, while Geffinger paced the Wildcats with her trio of 3-pointers and Ashleigh Jones was next with 7 points off the bench.

"We didn't come out and get in any shooting rhythm," said Neuqua Valley coach Mike Williams, whose team finishes 10-16 on the year but 9-7 over the second half of the campaign. "They've got four seniors who are phenomenal and there's a reason they've got a good record."