PITTSBURG, Kan. -- The No. 6 Pittsburg State women's basketball team will close out 2014 in Paradise, as the team travels to Honolulu, Hawaii for the Maliki Sports Tours Oahu Classic. The team will face BYU-Hawaii on Tuesday and Wingate at Wednesday. Both games will tipoff at 10 a.m. in Hawaii, 2 p.m. Central time. The games will take place at St. Francis Academy. Coach Lord has said many times this trip is a reward opportunity for Gorilla seniors Lizzy Jeronimus, Hailey Roderique, Morgan Westhoff, Antqunita Reed and Brigit Hesser for all they have contributed to the success of the Gorilla program.

Scouting BYU-Hawaii
BYU-Hawaii is 3-2 overall and 1-1 in PacWest play. The team has played three exhibition games against Division I teams, BYU, Butler and Hawaii, all resulting in losses. The team's two wins were over Oakland City.
    The Seasiders average 71.0 points per game, just barely above their opponents at 70.8 ppg. The team shoots 46.4 percent overall and 39.3 percent from long range. The team shoots only 58.8 percent from the free throw line. BYU-Hawaii outrebounds opponents 42.8 rpg to 30.6 for opponents. The team turns the ball over just over 22 times a game.
    Bry Tatupu-Leopoldo leads the Seasiders with 14.0 ppg. She leads the team with 14 threes made on the season and a 43.8 shooting percentage from long range. Celeste Claw adds 13.2 ppg while leading the team in assists with 7.6 apg. Whitney Fieldsted is the third player in double figures with 11.6 ppg. She shoots 52 percent from the floor overall and leads the team with 9.8 rebounds per game.

Scouting Wingate
Wingate has a 4-5 record overall and a 3-1 record in South Atlantic Conference play. The team's play has been a bit streaky thus far this season. The Bulldogs lost their first three games, won the next three and have alternated wins and loses in the last three games, most recently with a 67-75 loss to Shaw.
    The Bulldogs score 65.5 points per game, while opponents have just edged them with 66.7 ppg. The team is also outrebounded by its opponents, 42.1 to 38.9. It shoots .373 overall and only .291 from three point range. The team has a .668 shooting percentage from the charity stripe. They commit 16.9 turnovers per game.
    Two players average double figures for the Bulldogs, with two more just under double figures. Morgan McGee leads the team with 13.6 ppg. Amber Neely adds 13.5 ppg. Shelby Tricoli scores 9.8 ppg and has made 17 threes on the season. Kelli Bonner adds 9.2 ppg and leads the team with 18 threes made on the season. Chatal Dunbar leads the team with 10.7 rebounds per game. Brittany Hill leads in assists with 40 and steals with 21.

Scouting Pittsburg State
    The first 10 games have been outstanding for the Gorillas, minus a small hiccup against Rockhurst just after Thanksgiving The Gorillas have earned wins over then No. 10 Concordia-St. Paul and No. 7 Drury, as well as additional wins over central regional opponents, Bemidji State, Southwest Minnesota State, Minnesota-Duluth and Henderson State and the first conference game of the season over Northwest Missouri. These wins vaulted Pitt State to a No. 10 ranking in the first regular season poll of the season. The win over Drury pushed the Gorillas to No. 8, the then-highest ranking for a Lane Lord led Gorilla team. The Gorillas are now sitting at No. 6 with a new ranking coming out Wednesday afternoon.
    Pitt State averages 80.7 points per game, while holding opponents to 58.8 ppg. The Gorillas shoot almost .500 from the floor, at .478, while hitting .359 from long range. Pitt State outrebounds opponents 36.8 to 33.9. The Gorillas only average 13 turnovers a game, while opponents turn the ball over 19 times a game.
    First-team All-American Lizzy Jeronimus leads three Gorillas in double figures with 19.2 points per game, the second leading scorer in the MIAA. She has led the Gorillas in scoring in six of the first 10 games. She pulls down 6.2 rebounds per game and leads the team in assists with 30. Kylie Gafford adds 13.1 points per game and is also second on the team with 6.1 rebounds per game. The 6-2 junior also leads the team in blocks with  18 (2.0 per game) and shares the lead in steals with 14. She and Jeronimus are the team's leading free throw shooters, with Gafford making 32-of-38 (.842), and Jeronimus making 52-of-62 (.839). Cathy Brugman adds 12.7 points per game. She has been the team's leading scorer three times this season. She adds 4.6 rpg and has blocked 14 shots. She is second in assists with 20.
    Mikaela Burgess comes off the bench to add 8.8 ppg for the Gorillas. She led the team with 19 in the first game of the season against No. 10 Concordia. She shares the lead in steals with Gafford. She and senior Morgan Westhoff are the team;s leading three-point shooters, each having made 16-of-37 threes on the season (.432).

PSU vs. Opponents
This is the first meeting between the Gorillas and both BYU-Hawaii and Wingate.  
    
In the Polls
    Pittsburg State has made a big jump in the polls to the top 10. Pitt State appeared in the first regular season poll at No. 10. The team moved to No. 8 the next week and now sit at No. 6.         The Gorillas opened the season ranked No. 24 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 Preseason Poll.
    Four Pitt State opponents were ranked in the top 25 to start the season, No. 3 Drury, No. 7 Emporia State, No. 10 Concordia St. Paul and No. 20 Central Missouri. Three additional opponents were receiving votes, Wingate, Washburn and Truman State.
    Currently Emporia State is No. 1, Washburn, 11, Drury, 16, and Missouri Southern, 18. Central Missouri and Fort Hays State.

Up Next
After enjoying the rest of the week exploring Oahu, the Gorillas will take a couple weeks off to enjoy the holidays. The team takes the court again in the New Year, on Jan. 3 against Lindenwood at 1:30 p.m..  

Free Throw Queen
    Last season, Lizzy Jeronimus set a new school record for free throws made in a season. She made 217 free throws, besting the record set by Leslie Dudley in 2000, 182. She was only 10 free throws from setting a new MIAA record for free throws made in a season.         Jeronimus ranks second on the PSU list for career free-throws made with 556. She needs just 8 more for a new school and MIAA record. Leslie Dudley holds the school and MIAA record for career free throws made with 563.
    Jeronimus also set the record for free throws attempted in a season with 259. She is third on the career attempts list with 686. Dudley holds both the school and MIAA career attempts records with 718.

She Shoots, She Scores
Junior Lizzy Jeronimus is one of 17 players in school history to score 1,000 points in her career. She finished her sophomore season with 1,020 points, having scored them in 60 games, second fastest to the 1,000 point mark in school history. Now with 1,792 points, Jeronimus is the third leading all-time scorer, passing Dani Fronabarger with 1,687 points. She needs 18 points to move into second place, passing Jenni Miller who scored 1,809 points from 1994-97. She could do this against BYU-Hawaii on Tuesday.
    The Pitt State career scoring record is held by Leslie Dudley with 2,046 points. Jeronimus is just 255 points away from a new record. With her current scoring average, it would take her about 14 games to hit the new record. That would be Feb. 7 at Central Oklahoma.  
    Jeronimus has scored in double figures in all but nine games in her career. She scored 20 points or more in 16 of 31 games last season and in 40 career games.
    Jeronimus entered the season as Division II's second leading active career scorer.

Another Milestone
Lizzy Jeronimus is one of only six players in schoool history to grab more then 500 rebounds and score more than 1,000 points. She currently has 673 career rebounds which makes her second on the all-time rebounding list. She needs 33 to move to first. It should take her six games to set a new record which would be the game at Missouri Western on Jan. 10.
    Jeronimus also has 280 career assists, the sixth best total in school history. She is only the second player in school history to be in the top 10 for points, rebounds and assists. The only other was Lisa Cropper who played from 1993-96. She finished her career with 1399 points, 538 rebounds and 500 assists. Jeronimus has already passed her in points and rebounds. She needs 75 four more assists to move to fifth.