SIOUX CITY, IOWA – The dream season for the Marian Knights women’s basketball team came full circle Tuesday night. Marian won its first-ever women’s basketball national championship after upsetting No. 1 seed Southern Oregon, 59-48, in the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship game.

The Knights, which didn’t even win its conference tournament, represented the Crossroads League proudly. Lakan Hasser-Smith, the tournament Most Valuable Player, scored 16 points, just enough to become the first Knight in school history to score 2,000 points. Smith hit the historic milestone on a three at the 9:26 mark of the fourth quarter, which gave Marian a 47-35 lead.

Kellie Kirkhoff added 16 points and Anastacia Kirby had 13 rebounds for Marian, which never trailed in the second half against the 33-2 Southern Oregon squad that came in with the tournament’s top seed. The Raiders led only once in the game at 9-7 in the first quarter.

Carly Meister had 18 points and seven boards and Autumn Durand had 13 points and nine rebounds in the losing effort.

The Marian women’s basketball team joins the Spring Arbor women’s soccer program and the Indiana Wesleyan men’s basketball program as Crossroads League teams to win NAIA National Championships. The Wesleyan men won their title Tuesday night in Missouri, beating fellow CL foe St. Francis 69-66.