Despite being the No. 4-ranked team in the country and the winningest team in tournament history, many figured the Broncos would be a long shot to make it to the final four. After all, Hastings had lost leading scorer and rebounder Lindsay Ducey in mid-February due to a broken bone in her foot.

However, the Broncos recorded their third win in as many days Saturday, downing No. 5-ranked Bethel (Ind.) 75-64 at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena. The victory gave Hastings its fifth trip to the national tournament semifinals in the past seven years.

"When we came up here to this tournament, I was hoping we could survive the first round and maybe compete in the second," Hobson said on his post-game radio show. "After what we had been through our last four weeks of the season, I didn't really think we had much of a shot to get to the final four, but we've got some kids playing their best basketball of the season."

Junior guard Kay Broekemeier fit Hobson's description, scoring a team-high 17 points for Hastings (30-5). The Central City graduate was 5 -of-6 from 3-point range, helping the Broncos finish 12-of-29 (41.4 percent) from behind the arc.

None of the 3-pointers were bigger than the trio of treys made by Hastings senior point guard Haruka Yamashita in the second half as Bethel (31-4) attempted to mount a late rally.

"Today, we had a girl looking like she wanted to play some more games with Haruka," Hobson said. "(She) just absolutely drilled three cold-blooded shots I mean step-back threes over 5-10 (players) down the stretch. That sealed it for us."

Hastings will next play No. 1-ranked Ozarks (Mo.) at 6 p.m. Monday with a trip to Tuesday's national title game on the line. The Bobcats (34-1), whose only loss came to NCAA Division II national tournament qualifier Nebraska-Kearney, thumped Concordia 78-53 in their quarterfinal game.

Against Bethel, Rachel Isherwood followed up Broekemeier's 17 points with 14 points for the Broncos. Yamashita finished with 12 points and Ravenna sophomore Heather McKeon scored 11 off the Hastings bench.

Hobson said Isherwood provided the Broncos with an early spark.

"Isherwood had a great game today," Hobson said. "She went to the basket hard and finished well.

"She's about as competitive of a kid as we have and she's really playing well for us."

Again, Hastings relied on a solid defensive effort, holding the Pilots to 43.8-percent shooting from the field. Bethel leading scorer Natalie Young led her team with 18 points, but was held more than five points below her season average and well below the 34 points the guard had tallied in a second-round victory.

"We had a plan on her," Hobson said of Young. "You can plan all you want, but if your kids don't execute, it doesn't matter. I thought we did a pretty good job most of the time of keeping the matchup that we wanted.

"Usually, we had either Isherwood or Kay or (Rachael) VanKirk or one of our bigger guards on her. We were trying to make her get to her right side and turn back because she likes to score going to the right. Then, when she turned back left, we tried to have somebody there and they looked a little surprised by that."

Tied at 17-17 with 11:30 left in the first half, Hastings held Bethel without a field goal for nearly five minutes and went on a 14-4 run to lead 31-21. The Broncos had a 36-30 halftime advantage.

HC extended its lead to 56-40 in second half before Bethel cut its deficit to 65-60 on a 3-pointer by Nora Didrick with 2:46 to play. However, the Pilots could get no closer.

"We have a way of doing that," Hobson said of Hastings' inability to deliver the knockout punch earlier. "I think we missed a couple of free throws and we get out of control a little bit ... and get out of sync.

"The last two games, it seems like we've withstood those little runs and then settled down and finished the game well. That's a good sign."

HASTINGS 75, BETHEL 64

BETHEL (31-4)

Stout 4-10 2-2 11, Young 7-14 3-4 18, Didrick 2-6 2-2 8, Selent 0-1 1-2 1, Richards 5-6 1-2 13, McKee 2-3 2-4 6, Basinger 1-6 4-6 6, Cook 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 21-48 16-24 64.

HASTINGS (30-5)

VanKirk 0-6 5-6 5, Yamashita 4-11 1-3 12, Broekemeier 5-9 2-2 17, Isherwood 7-9 0-0 14, Lien 3-9 2-3 8, Faimon 1-1 0-0 2, Cambridge 1-1 0-0 3, McKeon 4-10 0-0 11, Kulus 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 26-59 11-16 75.

HalftimeHastings 36, Bethel 30. 3-point goalsBethel 6-19 (Stout 1-3, Young 1-3, Didrick 2-5, Selent 0-1, Richards 2-2, McKee 0-1, Basinger 0-4), Hastings 12-29 (VanKirk 0-4, Yamashita 3-9, Broekemeier 5-6, Cambridge 1-1, McKeon 3-8, Kulus 0-1). Fouled outNone. ReboundsBethel 36 (Young 7), Hastings 33 (Lien 9). AssistsBethel 8 (Young, Didrick, Basinger 2). TurnoversBethel 18, Hastings 12. Total foulsBethel 15, Hastings 17. TechnicalsNone. A928.