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It may be a game, but Jaime Green doesn't want anyone working harder at the game than her Labette Cardinals.

After two days at the NJCAA Women's Championship, the Cardinals have yet to disappoint their head coach.

Labette led from start to finish in a 68-58 victory over Midland, Texas, in the tournament's quarterfinals Wednesday at the Bicentennial Center. Now 33-3, the Cardinals advance to Friday night's semifinals and are guaranteed to finish no worse than fourth in the nation.

The tourney's 11th seed, Labette took out sixth-seed Northern Oklahoma in Tuesday's opening round, then defeated No. 3 seed Midland to reach the tourney's final four. The Cardinals did it by opening the game with a 10-0 run, then starting the second half with nine unanswered points.

"We don't want to get beat by being outworked," Green said. "If we get out-talented or if I'm outcoached, that's OK. But we've got kids who have come from nothing and all they do is work.

"They do a great job and they make me look good."

After hitting eight of their first nine shots from the field to build a 17-7 lead five minutes into the game, the Cardinals went into halftime up by seven (35-28).

"Coach teaches us that you can't trade baskets," said sophomore Satoria Bell, who led the Cardinals with 21 points and eight rebounds. "When you have a lead, get a run on offense and get some stops at the other end."

That's exactly what Labette did to start the second half. A 3-pointer by Shetiarra Pledger and a three-point play from Bell made it 41-28, and the lead rose to 16 points after

Philicia Kelly got a steal and layup, then hit 1-of-2 free throws on the next possession.

"Coach Green teaches us every day that you win by any means possible," Bell said. "She told us when we came here that Labette is going to be a hard place to play, because if you don't love to play defense, you can't play here.

"Defense is what won us this game."

Defense and some extra effort on the boards. The Cardinals got three offensive rebounds on one possession and ate more than 90 seconds off the clock before Kellindra Zackery's fourth-chance bucket made it 61-50 with 4:12 to play.

Labette then dodged a bullet when Lauren Mansfield's 3-pointer cut the lead to 61-56 and Midland forced a quick turnover. But a Chaparral shot in the lane, with a chance to make it a one-possession game with more than a minute to play, would not fall.

The Cardinals hit 7-of-10 free throws in the final 1:04 to close it out.

"Two things stick out in this game," said Midland coach Ron Jones. "There were several times we got them to take the shot we wanted them to take, then gave up the offensive rebound.

"The other thing is we gave up too many easy baskets and missed several easy shots. You can't give up layups on defense and then miss layups on the other end."

Zackery had 16 points for the Cardinals and Kelly finished with 13. Midland (31-4) was led by reserve Jessi Cowden, whose four 3-pointers accounted for her 12 points.

A win in Friday's semifinal against No. 2 seed Gulf Coast would make Labette the first Kansas entry at the national tourney to play in the championship game since Seward County won the title in 2002. Midland will face Monroe, N.Y., in today's 4 p.m. elimination game.

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