FRIDAY, MARCH 11

Session 1

Game 1 • Noon • No. 5 Seed Fort Hays State vs. No. 4 Seed Winona State

Game 2 • 2:30 p.m. - No. 8 Seed Northern State vs. No. 1 Seed Emporia State 

Session 2

Game 3 • 6 p.m. - No. 7 Seed Sioux Falls vs. No. 2 Seed Pittsburg State

Game 4 • 8:30 p.m. - No. 6 Seed Arkansas Tech vs. No. 3 Seed Missouri Western 

Saturday, March 12

Game 5 • 5 p.m. - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 

Game 6 • 7:30 p.m. - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 

Monday, March 14

Game 7 • 7 p.m. - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 

Pitt State In the NCAA Tournament

This will mark the eighth trip to the NCAA Tournament for the Pittsburg State women and the foruth under head coach Lane Lord. Pitt State has a 4-8 all-time record in NCAA Tournament games. The Gorillas have made the tournament each of the last three years and four of the last five. 

    The Gorillas' most sucessful appearance in the NCAA Tournament was the 2011-12 season. After a close, 74-70, opening round win over Central Missouri, the team won each of its next two games, with Northeastern State and Emporia State, by double digits to win the South Central Regional title and advance to the Elite Eight. Pitt State lost its NCAA Quarterfinal game to eventual national champion Shaw, 61-58.

    Prior to the 2012 season, the Gorillas were 0-5 in their previous five trips and had lost those five NCAA Tournament games by an average of 11.2 points per game. 

    This marks the third time Pitt State has hosted an NCAA Regional. The Gorillas also hosted in 1992 and 1995.

    Pitt State has faced three different teams more than once in the NCAA Tournament. The Gorillas suffered two losses to Abilene Christian on 1995 and 1997. Pitt State is 1-1 against Central Missouri, with a 69-56 loss in 1998 and the win in 2012. The Gorillas are also 1-1 against Emporia State with a win in 2012 and a loss in the semifinal round last season.

Scouting Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls rides into the NCAA Central Regional on a 27-5 overall record, seeded 7th in the regional. Sioux Falls captured the NSIC Tournament Title last weekend, defeating Augustana 75-57. Their last loss was recorded on Feb. 13 against Augustana by a ten-point deficit. 

    The Cougars average 73.7 ppg and 40.4 rpg, while holding their opponents to just 59.8 ppg and 35.2. The team leads the conference with a combined 17.1 apg and a 1.41 assist/turnover ratio. They are shooting .426 from the field and .339 from three point.

    NSIC Player of the Year Taylor Varsho leads Sioux Falls with 18.2 ppg. She is the conference leader in three-point goals made per game with 3.5, shooting .384 from long range. Sam Knecht (11.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and Alison Klostergaard (10.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg) also score in double digits. Knecht leads the team with 35 blocked shots and Klostergaard has 54 steals on the season. Teagan Molden contributes 9.1 points per game and Madi Robson dishes out 4.4 apg at the team's point guard.

Scouting Pittsburg State

The Gorillas are 26-5 overall and finished the MIAA regular season with an 18-4 record. The win over Fort Hays State in the MIAA Tournament Semifinal was the team's 15th consecutive win, breaking the school record for consecutive wins set by the 2012 team. Each of the teams that beat Pitt State earlier in the season, they came back to beat the second time around. 

    The Gorillas ring in at No. 16 this week in the WBCA/NCAA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. Pitt State finished second in the final MIAA standings, earning the tiebreaker over Fort Hays State. 

    Pitt State averages 75.2 points per game, while allowing opponents 63.7 ppg. The Gorillas shoot .443 from the floor overall and .375 from long range, hitting 8.0 threes per game. The team pulls down 35.3 rebounds per game, 1.9 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 18.0 ppg. She is the team's top three-point shooter, having made 91-of-218 threes on the season for a .417 three-point shooting percentage. She hits 3.25 threes a game. Burgess was named the MIAA player of the Week after averaging 28 ppg on the road against Washburn and Emporia State. She led all players with 21 in the semifinal game.

    Kylie Gafford is the team's second leading scorer with 13.6 ppg and is the team's leading rebounder with 5.9 rpg. She also leads the team with 55 blocks on the season and recently set the school record for career blocks. Gafford was named 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 12.6 ppg to the PSU cause. She led the Gorillas with 21 points against Central Missouri on Thursday night and scored her 1,000th career point in the first quarter against Fort Hays State. 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 137 assists for 4.7 assists per game. She has only turned the ball over 39 times on the season. Her 3.51 assists/turnover ratio is second in the nation. She scores 7.7 ppg. Herlocker makes 39.4 percent of her shots from three-point range. Paige Lungwitz adds 7.3 ppg and scored a career-high 17 points against Fort Hays State on Saturday. 

    While most of the scoring is done by the Pitt State starters, several bench players have played key roles in Pitt State's success this season. Shelby Lopez adds 4.3 ppg and has hit 29 threes on the year, she scored nine in the win over the Tigers in the semifinals. Elena Flott comes in to give Gafford a breather and adds 3.6 ppg and 2.0 rpg. Paige Imhoff spent quite a bit of time at the point early in the season when Burgess and Herlocker were injured. She scores 3.4 ppg, has 53 assists, 13 blocks and 21 steals. Maddie Northcutt comes in with aggressive defense and tenaciousness on the boards. She doesn't score a lot, but averages 3.7 rpg in only 11 minutes a game. 

    There is quite a difference in the team's play between wins and losses. In its wins, the Gorillas score 76.4 points. They commit only 11.0 turnovers per game in wins and outrebound opponents by 2.9 rpg. In losses, the Gorillas score only 67.5 ppg, are outrebounded by 4.2 and commit 16.0 turnovers.

PSU vs. Sioux Falls

This will be the first meeting between the Gorillas and Sioux Falls.

We're Going Streaking

Pitt State set a school record with its 15-game win streak, breaking the school record of 14, 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 this season Gafford has a team-leading 55 blocks. Gafford has 191 blocks for her career, setting a new school record in the MIAA Quarterfinal win over Central Missouri. The previous record of 187 was 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. She now has 1051 career points and is 13th. 

    Against SBU Gafford also pulled down the 539th rebound of her career, pushing her into the top 10 for career rebounds. She now has 557 and needs 10 more to more to ninth on the career rebounds list. 

Burgess for THREE!

Sophomore Mikaela Burgess leads the Gorillas with 95 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, and had almost passed that total midway through the season. She shoots .398 (147-369) from three for her career and is fifth for career threes made.  She needs to make 13 more to pass Morgan Westhoff for fourth. Her current career three-point shooting percentage ranks fourth. Her 95 threes made this season rank second all-time. Jenni 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 227 assists and only 86 turnovers for a 2.63 assist/turnover ratio. She has had eight games this season with no turnovers and 21 with four or more assists. This season she is at 3.51 with 138 assists and only 39 turnovers. Herlocker's 138 assists are the fourth highest single-season total in school history. She needs eight more to pass current assistant coach Amanda Davied's 2002 total to move to third and 10 to pass Leslie Dudley for second. It will take 20 more assists for Herlocker to pass Davied's 2003 total for the school record. 

Another 1000 Point Scorer

With 38 seconds in the first quarter in the semifinal game against Fort Hays State, senior Cathy Brugman scored her 1,000th career point. She is the 19th player in school history to score 1000 points or more. She now has 1007 career points which ranks 18th. With 22 points, Brugman can move to 17th. Brugman averages 12.5 ppg this season and 8.7 ppg for her career.