PITTSBURG – The Gorillas are primed and ready to begin the 2016-17 season. The season opens with four consecutive home games, beginning this weekend with the MIAA/NSIC Challenge. Pitt State will take on Mary at noon on Friday (November 11) and Concordia St. Paul at 1 p.m. on Saturday (November 12).

Friday will be an exciting day as over 2000 elementary students from the four Pittsburg public schools, Frontenac, Girard and St. Mary's-Colgan will be attending the game for free. Being Veterans Day, Pitt State Athletics has also invited all veterans to come to the game for free. There will be a short Veterans Day presentation and recognition of all Veterans in attendance at halftime. 

Scouting Mary

Mary travels to Pittsburg 1-2 overall. A trip to East Orange, Calif., for the Division II CCA Tip-Off Classic resulted in games against two top-3 schools. No. 2 West Texas A&M edged out the Marauders by a nine-point margin and No. 3 Califorina Baptist handed the team their first win of the season, 85-75. They also fell to Colorado School of Mines by two.

Three games into the season, Dani Williams (14.7 points, 3.0 assists per game) and Hannah Larson (13.7 ppg,) proved to be paramount to Mary's offense. Williams shoots .571 (8-14) from three and Larson shoots .469 (15-32) from paint. Defensively, Larson also leads with 11 blocked shots and 8.3 rebounds per game. Rachel Weir and Lauren Rotunda record just over 7.0 ppg apiece and Cassie Askvig and Gabbie Bohl add six apiece. 

The Marauders are shooting .429 (72-168) from the field, .400 (16-40) from long range and .574 (31-54) from the foul line. Additionally, the team records 63.7 points, 39.7 rebounds, 11.7 assists and 7.7 steals per game.

Scouting Concordia-St. Paul

Concordia-St. Paul will kick off their season this weekend at Central Missouri, followed by Pitt State. Last season, the team finished 14-16 overall and 9-13 in the NSIC. The Golden Bears last played on Feb. 28 in the NSIC Conference Tournament, falling to No. 8 Winona State in the quarterfinals, 64-68.

The Golden Bears return their top four scorers from last season:  Anna Schmitt (15.3 ppg), Lauren Shifflett (14.2 ppg), Mishayla Jones (13.0 ppg), and Caitlyn Russell (11.4 ppg). Schmitt shot a .475 clip from the field (162-341) and led the team in steals with 44. Shifflett went .357 (66-185) from three last season and Jones dished out 122 assists to lead the team. Caitlyn Russell blocked 51 shots. The team also returns their top rebounder, Kyrah Fredenburg, who grabbed 10.6 rebounds per game.

Last season, Concordia-St. Paul collectively shot a .422 clip, while leaving opponents to a .410 clip. The team also compiled 72.7 points, 37.9 rebounds, 14.6 assists and 7.3 steals per game.

Scouting Pittsburg State

The Gorillas got to shake some of the pre-season rust off in an exhibition game against Bethany College last week. The coaches were able to see what still needed to be worked on, as well as see some promise from the younger players. Mikaela Burgess continued as the team's leading scorer and three point shooter, but the team also got significant contributions from Hadyn Herlocker and Shelby Lopez. In addition to her 12 points, Herlocker dished out eight assists and grabbed six steals, while Lopez scored 17 points off the bench, including hitting five threes. 

The Gorillas return their leading scorer from last year's Elite Eight run in Burgess. She averaged 17.6 ppg and is one of the top three-point shooters in school history, hitting 42 percent of her long range shots last season. Also returning is senior Herlocker, the national leader in assist/turnover ratio. Herlocker dished out 156 assists with only 45 turnovers. Senior Paige Lungwitz will bring her lock down defense back to the team for her final season. She and Herlocker each averaged just under eight points a game last season.

Those three players started last season, but the remaining starters, Kylie Gafford and Cathy Brugman, graduate, leaving a hole for some younger players to fill. Pitt State had a lot of depth in many positions and Elena Flott, Shelby Lopez, Madison Northcutt, Brenlee McPherson and Paige Imhoff each played valuable minutes last season and will battle for starting spots. The Gorillas also added five freshman that will have the chance to earn playing time.

Pitt State vs. Mary

This will be the third meeting between the Gorillas and Mary. Both of the preious meetings have taken place on the opening weekend of the season. Last season Mary was the Gorillas second game in the MIAA?NSIC Challenge in Bismark, N.D.. The Gorillas came away with a 62-49 win. Pitt State earned a 80-60 win over the Mauraders on November 10, 2012 in Pittsburg as part of the Pitt State Tipoff Classic. 

Pitt State vs. Concordia-St. Paul

This also marks the third meeting between the Gorillas and Concordia St. Paul. The team's are 1-1 after the previous two meetings. The first meeting between the two schools was at the Disney Tipoff Classic in Anaheim, Calif. on November 9, 2013. The Gorillas lost a hard-fought 68-62 battle. To open the 2014-15 season, the Gorillas traveled to St. Paul and earned a 66-59 win in the the opening game of that season. 

Pitt State in Season Openers

Pitt State is 27-15 in season opening games. The Gorillas are 17-4 in home openers at John Lance Arena and have won each of the last four. The Gorillas have not opened the season at home since the 2012-13 season. The program has a 7-9 record in season openers on the road and 3-2 at neutral sites. The last time the team opened the season at a neutral site was the 2013-14 season at the Disney Tipoff Classic. The Gorillas have won each of their last five season-opening games. For complete information on Pitt State in season-opening games, see the chart on page two.

In the Polls

Pitt State opens the season ranked No. 12 in the WBCA Preseason Coaches Poll. This marks only the second time in school history the Gorillas have started the season ranked in the nation's top 25. The other time being a No. 3 ranking at the start of the 2012-13 season.

Pitt State was one of two MIAA schools to appear in the pre-season poll. Rival Emporia State is ranked fourth. Missouri Western and Washburn are both receiving votes.

Up Next

Pitt State will host Ferris State, Arkansas-Fort Smith and Central Missouri in the Pitt State Classic on Friday and Saturday, November 18 and 19 in John Lance Arena. Friday, Arkansas-Fort Smith and Central Missouri will face off at 5:30 p.m., followed by Pittsburg State and Ferris State at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's schedule pits the Jennies against Ferris State at 1 p.m. and The Gorillas against Arkansas-Fort Smith at 3 p.m.