The victory moved No. 4-ranked Hastings (29-5) in the tournament's final eight for a third consecutive year. The Broncos will next face fifth-ranked Bethel (Ind.) at 3 p.m. Saturday with a spot in Monday's semifinals on the line.

"I'm not ever going to apologize for a win in the second round of the national tournament against a good team," Hastings coach Tony Hobson said during his post-game radio show. "It didn't look good we were turning it over and we were struggling against their press."

Hastings committed 23 turnovers, but was able to overcome its mistakes with another strong defensive effort. The Broncos held No. 12-ranked Benedictine (29-6) to 40.4-percent shooting and forced the Ravens into 19 turnovers.

"I still think that's been one reason we've been so successful here is that we pressure so hard on defense and that you're a little tighter here in the national tournament and you do some uncharacteristic things and we're not immune to that," Hobson said. "We did the same thing and didn't handle the ball like we're capable of doing and had too many turnovers."

Still, Hastings managed to shoot 54.2 percent in the second half and hold off a late Benedictine charge.

"Whatever it takes," Hobson said. "We play good enough defense to keep us in there until we accidentally score. That's kind of how it is."

Ravenna sophomore Heather McKeon paced Hastings with 17 points, hitting 5-of-9 attempts from 3-point range. Six-foot-4 center Breanna Lien turned in her second consecutive solid game at the national tournament for the Broncos with 14 points and eight rebounds before fouling out.

HC also got 13 points from Haruka Yamashita and 12 points from Central City junior Kay Broekemeier.

Nicole Fields scored a game-high 24 points for Benedictine, going 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. Abby Winder added 14 points for the Ravens.

Hobson said the Broncos, who once again played without injured starting center Lindsay Ducey, did an excellent job, despite being under-sized. Hastings outrebounded Benedictine 36-25.

"Breanna played 22 minutes so for 18 minutes of the game, we were playing five guards," Hobson said. "They had two senior post players that are 5-11 and 6-foot and they're a load in there to handle. When you can hold this team to 62 points on defense while playing five guards for half the game, that's keeping us in the games right now and it's going to have to."

As one might expect, the road gets tougher for the Broncos in the quarterfinals as they'll face Bethel (31-4), which is the top seeded in its quarter of the bracket. The Pilots defeated Northwood (Fla.) 73-41 Thursday in the first round and then beat Dakota State (S.D.) 70-67 in Friday's second round.

"We'll have our hands full," Hobson said. "They're a little bit different than today because they've got one of the best players in the country and another player who's very good. They aren't as balanced as the team we saw today."

Bethel is led by Natalie Young, who scored 34 points Friday and averaged 23.2 points per game entering the tournament.

"They're very skilled and they've got some good kids," Hobson said. "They wouldn't be here or ranked where they're at if they didn't have a pretty good squad."

HASTINGS 70, BENEDICTINE 62

BENEDICTINE (29-6)

Huff 1-2 0-0 2, Edmonds 2-4 0-0 5, Fields 6-10 10-10 24, Winder 6-8 2-2 14, Stuhlsatz 1-7 2-2 4, Kovac 0-1 0-0 2, Finazzo 2-7 0-0 6, Cooney 0-0 0-0 0, Morrison 3-5 1-3 7, Reischl 0-4 0-0 0, Hollembeak 0-3 0-0 0, Wansing 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-52 15-17 62.

HASTINGS (29-5)

VanKirk 0-4 2-2 2, Yamashita 5-11 2-2 13, Broekemeier 4-8 1-2 12, Isherwood 3-5 0-0 6, Lien 7-11 0-0 14, Faimon 0-1 2-2 2, Cambridge 1-2 0-1 3, Schmaderer 0-0 1-2 1, McKeon 5-10 2-3 17. Kulus 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-52 10-14 70.

Halftime Hastings 35, Benedictine 25. 3-point goals Benedictine 5-15 (Huff 0-1, Edmonds 1-3, Fields 2-3, Kovac 0-1, Finazzo 2-6, Hollembeak 0-1), Hastings 10-27 (VanKirk 0-4, Yamashita 1-5, Broekemeier 3-7, Cambridge 1-2, McKeon 5-9). Fouled out Lien. Rebounds Benedictine 25 (Huff, Edmonds, Kovac 3), Hastings 36 (Lien 8). Assists Benedictine 11 (Huff 4), Hastings 13 (Cambridge 4). Turnovers Benedictine 19, Hastings 23. Total fouls Benedictine 20, Hastings 19. Technicals None. A 752.