Opening Tip
Pittsburg State is the top ranked team in the latest NCAA Regioinal Rankings. What does that mean? It means that if the season ended today, the Gorillas would have earned the right to host the NCAA Central Regional in John Lance Arena.
For that to continue to be a possibility, the Gorillas have to take care of business in their final regular season game of the year at Missouri Southern on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Joplin
Pitt State is 23-4 on the season and 17-4 in MIAA play. The Gorillas are third in the conference and are in the midst of a 12-game win streak. MIssouri Southern is 17-10 overall and 11-10 in MIAA play. They are tied for fifth in the league.
Scouting Missouri Southern
Missouri Southern is 17-10 overall and 11-10 in conference play. They split last weekend, losing to Southwest Baptist (52-65) and edging out Central Missouri in overtime (76-73). This weekend's matchup will conclude the Lions' season before moving into the MIAA tournament the following weekend.
Two guards have been paramount to the Lions' offensive effort this season. Sharese Jones ranks fourth in the MIAA in scoring with 17.7 ppg and shoots .520 from the field. The senior guard/forward also shoots .481 from three and .860 from the foul line. Deb Holcomb is the other Lion frontrunner, averaging 15.3 ppg. Additionally, senior guard Kenya Wilson-Brown has 49 steals and dishes out 4 assists per game. Freshman forward/center Desirea Buerge has 11 total blocks this season. Jones is also pulling down 6.6 boards per game.
As a team, Missouri Southern is shooting .413 (579-1402) from the field, .359 (175-488) from long range, and .752 (412-548) from the charity stripe. The Lions also record 64.6 points, 33.1 rebounds, 12.2 assists, 6.8 steals and 2.0 blocks per game.
Scouting Pittsburg State
The Gorillas are 23-4 overall and 17-4 in MIAA play and have won each of their last 12 games, including upset wins over No. 16 Emporia State on Feb. 6 and No. 5 Fort Hays State on Feb. 11. The Gorillas ring in at No. 19 this week in the WBCA/NCAA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll for the second straight week. Pitt State is currently third in the MIAA standings behind Missouri Western and Fort Hays State. The top three teams, as well as Emporia State, Central Oklahoma and Missouri Southern have all secured spots in the MIAA Tournament.
Pitt State averages 75.1 points per game, while allowing opponents 63.2 ppg. The Gorillas shoot .435 from the floor overall and .363 from long range, hitting 7.6 threes per game. The team pulls down 36.0 rebounds per game, 2.3 more per game than their opponents. The team commits only 11.6 turnovers per game and has a 1.2 assists to turnover ratio.
Mikaela Burgess continues to lead the Gorillas with 18.4 ppg. She is the team's top three-point shooter, having made 82-of-199 threes on the season for a .412 three-point shooting percentage. She hits 3.3 threes a game. Burgess was named the MIAA player of the Week after averaging 28 ppg on the road against Washburn and Emporia State. Kylie Gafford is the team's second leading scorer with 13.2 ppg and is the team's leading rebounder with 5.6 rpg. She also leads the team with 50 blocks on the season. Gafford was named this week's MIAA Player of the Week after averaging 19.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg in the team's two wins over No. 5 Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney. She was also named the week's MIAA Player of the Week after scoring 20.0 points per game against Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri. Cathy Brugman adds 12.8 ppg to the PSU cause. She was named MIAA Player of the Week after averaging 21 points per game on the road against Lindenwood and Lincoln.
Hadyn Herlocker leads the team with 118 assists for 4.5 assists per game. She has only turned the ball over 35 times on the season. Her 3.37 assists/turnover ratio is second in the nation. She scores 7.3 ppg. Herlocker makes 39 percent of her shots from three-point range. Paige Lungwitz adds 6.7 ppg. Shelby Lopez and Paige Imhoff come off the bench to each contribute 4.3 and 3.8 ppg, respectively.
There is quite a difference in the team's play between wins and losses. In its wins, the Gorillas score 77.1 points. They commit only 10.9 turnovers per game in wins and outrebound opponents by 5.5 rpg. In losses, the Gorillas score only 67.5 ppg, are outrebounded by 4.2 and commit 16.0.
PSU vs. Missouri Southern
Pitt State and MSSU has met twice a year since the 1974-75 season. The teams met once during the regular season last year, then again in the MIAA Tournament. Pitt State has a four-game lead in the series, 45-41. Each team leads in its home arena, the Gorillas lead 26-17 in Pittsburg, while the Lions lead 23-16 in Joplin. The 2011 victory in the MIAA Tournament was the last neutral site meeting between the two teams.
Prior to the 2001-02 season the Gorillas had won 10 straight over the Lions, the longest streak of wins by either team in the series. The series began with an eight game losing streak against the Lions, but was broken on Dec. 6, 1978 in Pittsburg by just one point.
The largest margin of victory in the series was a 43-point Missouri Southern win on Feb. 15, 2006. Pitt State's biggest win was a 80-45 win at home on Feb. 16, 2000, the 57th meeting between the teams. Since then things have been more evenly matched, for the most part. The most points scored in the series was a 92-90 Gorilla win on Feb. 18, 1987 in Pittsburg.
Gorillas in the MIAA
Pitt State is third in the MIAA Standings just behind Missouri Western and Fort Hays State and one game ahead of Emporia State.
The Gorillas are third in the MIAA in scoring offense and scoring margin. The team's .433 field goal percentage is also third. It makes 7.7 threes per game, which ranks second. Pitt State is second in free throw percentage with .779. The Gorillas have the second-best assist/turnover ratio in the league with a 1.22. They have the third-best turnover margin, only turning the ball over 11.4 times a game, while forcing opponents into 14.5 turnovers a game. The team is second in blocked shots with 4.20 blocks per game.
Several individuals rank high in the league in several statistical categories as well. Burgess is third with 18.3 ppg, while Brugman ranks 13th and Gafford, 14th. Gafford ranks 12th for rebounds with her 5.6 rpg. Brugman is 22nd. Burgess is 11th for field goal percentage (.426). She is also fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.421) and first in threes per game (3.3). Brugman leads the league with her .886 free throw percentage. Burgess is third at .859. Gafford ranks 12th. Hadyn Herlocker is second in the MIAA with 4.5 assists per game. She leads the MIAA with her 3.5 assist/turnover ratio. Gafford's 44 blocks on the season are tops in the league.
We're Going Streaking
Pitt State is currently on a 12-game win streak. The school record for consecutive wins is 12, set by the 2011-12 team, the team that made the Elite Eight. Cathy Brugman is the only member of the current team that was a member of that team, as that was her redshirt freshman season. That team won its first 14 games and did not lose until Jan. 11 to Washburn. The team also had an eight-game win streak later in the season.
Prior to that, the longest win streak in school history was 11 games from Feb. 1 to March 5, 1992. Every win in the streak was over conference foes. It started with a win over MIssouri-St. Louis in Pittsburg and included two games in the MIAA Tournament. The streak ended with a loss to Washburn in the championship game of the tournament. That team was the MIAA regular season champion, the tournament runner up and earned a berth into the NCAA-II Tournament..
She's Having a Block Party
Senior Kylie Gafford has been a significant presence down low for the Gorillas in her first three seasons. Her number of blocks has increased each season and with her team-leading 44 blocks on the season Gafford has 186 blocks for her career. She has passed Lauren Brown for second place and is two from surpassing the record of 187 set by Larissa Richards from 2008-2012.
In the Meantime ...
While waiting for Kylie Gafford to break the blocks record, she achieved a couple other career milestones. With 8:46 to go at SBU on Feb. 20, Gafford hit a layup to score the 1,000th point of her career. Gafford becomes only the 18th player in program history to score 1000 or more career points.
Against SBU she also pulled down the 539th rebound of her career, pushing her into the top 10 for career rebounds. She needs 28 more to more to ninth on the career rebounds list.
Burgess for THREE!
Sophomore Mikaela Burgess leads the Gorillas with 82 threes on the season, an average of over three threes made per game. Last season she was second on the team with 52 threes made, so she has already passed her freshman season total. She shoots .392 (134-342) from three for her career and is fifth for career threes made. She needs to make 26 more to pass Morgan Westhoff for fourth. Her current career three-point shooting percentage ranks fourth. Her 82 threes made this season rank fourth all-time. She needs to only make three more to pass Jenni Miller's 1996 total and 11 more to pass her 1997 total for second. Miller has the school record for threes made in a season with 116, which led Division II in 1995.
Taking Care of the Rock
Junior point guard Hadyn Herlocker may not have seen a ton of court time prior to earning her starting spot this season, but the minutes she has played has made a significant impact, as she has done a superb job of taking care of the ball. Last season she dished out 65 assists with only 30 turnovers for a 2.2 assist/turnover ratio. With an even better performance this season, she is just over that for her career with 207 assists and only 82 turnovers for a 2.52 assist/turnover ratio. She has had seven games this season with no turnovers and 18 with four or more assists. This season she is at 3.37 with 118 assists and only 35 turnovers.
Closing in on 1000
Cathy Brugman is just 26 points away from her 1000th career point, with 974 points. With her 12.8 ppg, she will need three more games to reach 1000, which would be the second game of the MIAA Tournament.
