PITTSBURG -- Pittsburg State's win and Central Missouri's loss on Saturday secured at least a share of the MIAA Regular Season title for the Gorillas. The outcome of this week's games on Tuesday against Missouri Southern and Saturday at Central Missouri could secure the title outright. Tuesday's game begins at 5:30 p.m. in John Lance Arena. Saturday the Gorillas travel to No. 16 Central Missouri for a 1:30 p.m. game at the UCM Multipurpose Building in Warrensburg, Mo.
 
Regarding MIAA Titles
Pitt State has only earned two other regular season MIAA Titles in the history of the women's basketball program, both of which were in the 90s. The last Pitt State women's basketball regular season title was the 1995-96 season. Pitt State went 12-4 in conference play and shared the title with Central Missouri and Missouri S&T. The Gorillas earned the title outright in the 1991-92 season with a 14-2 conference record. 
 
Scouting Missouri Southern 
Missouri Southern is 12-14 overall and 7-10 in conference play. Last week, the Lions lost to Missouri Western before earning a one-point win over Northwest Missouri. They stand ninth in the conference.

 Deb Holcomb is a key contributor to the Lions' 71.1 ppg. She was averaging 15.6 ppg prior to a season-ending injury two weeks ago. Desirea Burge is the leading active scorer with 12.7 ppg. She also leads the team with 6.3 rebounds per game. Chelsy Henry adds 10.3 ppg.

 From long range, Missouri Southern is shooting .348 (169-485) and .746 (417-559) from the free throw line. Additionally, the team is recording 34.4 rebounds, 11.8 assists, 6.78 steals and 2.8 blocks per game.
 
Scouting Central Missouri 
No. 16 Central Missouri is two games behind the Gorillas in the MIAA race. The Jennies most recently lost a two-point heartbreaker to Lindenwood.

 Paige Redmond (16.1 ppg, 3.8 apg) headlines a Central Missouri offense that averages 71.6 ppg. Kayonna Lee pulls down a team-high 8.8 rebounds and adds 8.2 points to the effort. Ashley Duffy scores 9.2 ppg and has 41 steals on the season. Morgan Fleming averaged 11.9 ppg in 13 games but she has missed the Jennies last eight games due to injury.

 Central Missouri has a .360 three-point percentage with the help from Redmond's .390 (48-123). Along with shooting .430 (527-1227) from the paint and .756 (300-397) from charity, the team is also recording 13.7 assists, 8.6 steals and 2.6 blocks per game.
 
Scouting Pittsburg State
Pittsburg State is the No. 7 team in the country with a 23-3 record overall and a 15-2 record in MIAA play. All three of Pitt State's losses have been to top 10 teams. Pitt State is currently on a six-game win streak and leads the MIAA standings. The Gorillas have secured a spot in the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City, as well as a share of the MIAA title.   

  The team has won its games by an average of almost 18 points per game. The 61-point win over Rio-Piedras was the largest of the season, while the four-point win over Kearney was the closest. Pitt State scores 76.4 ppg, while holding opponents to 58.8 ppg. The most points scored by the Gorillas this season were the 106 points against Lincoln on Jan. 12.

 The Gorillas are shooting .440 from the floor overall and .361 from three-point range. The Gorillas make an average of 9.5 threes a game, but are holding opponents to just 3.8 made threes a game. Pitt State is also outrebounding its opponents by 6.7 rpg. 

 Mikaela Burgess leads the Gorillas with 17.0 ppg and was named the MIAA Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 21-27. She scored her 1,000th career point on December 1 against Nebraska-Kearney. Most recently, she set a new career-high with 35 points at Washburn on Jan. 21. She has hit 75 threes on the season, which leads the MIAA. She also leads the MIAA with a .367 three-point percentage

 Madison Northcutt, who was named the MIAA Player of the Week on Jan. 16, is second on the team with 12.0 ppg, including 13.0 ppg in conference play. She is the team's leading rebounder with 9.0 rpg. She has recovered double-doubles in each of the last four games. Northcutt is third in the MIAA for rebounding overall and first for offensive rebounds. 

 Shelby Lopez is averaging just under double figures for the season with 9.7 ppg. Lopez has made 63 threes this season, which is third in the MIAA. She recorded her first 20-point game with 24 points at Northwestern Oklahoma. She made six threes in that game.  

 Paige Lungwitz adds 9.0 ppg. She was named the MIAA Player of the Week for the week of November 30-December 4 after putting up a career-high 27 against UNK. She also adds. 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Lungwitz excels at things that don't always show up in the stat sheet, as she is often tasked with defending the other teams' top players.

 Hadyn Herlocker chips in 7.8 ppg and leads the team with 5.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Her assists lead the MIAA, while her steals are fifth. She also leads the MIAA with a 3.4 assists/turnover ratio. Herlocker is also the team's third-leading recbounder with 4.7 rpg. She earned MIAA and HERO Sports National Player of the Week honors after putting up a double-double with 12 points and a school record 13 assists at Lincoln on December 10. Herlocker is just three assists shy of setting a new school record for career assists. In just 26 games she has more assists than she did in 35 games last season.
 
PSU vs. Missouri Southern
Pitt State and MSSU have met twice a year since the 1974-75 season with the exception of the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. The Gorillas won both meetings last year and the fist meeting this season. Pitt State has a six-game lead in the series, 47-41. Each team leads in its home arena, the Gorillas lead 26-17 in Pittsburg, while the Lions lead 23-20 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.
 
PSU vs. Central Missouri
Central Missouri leads the series between the two teams, 28-25. Each team leads on its home court, with Pitt State holding an 14-9 advantage in Pittsburg and UCM leading 19-7 in Warrensburg. Pitt State leads 2-1 at neutral sites. Last season the two teams met three times, each team won on the others' home court, but Pitt State broke the tie with a win in the quarterfinal round of the MIAA Tournament.

 For the first time since the 2006-07 season, the two teams did not split the regular season series in 2011-12. Pitt State won all three meetings between the two teams, including a win in the NCAA Regional Tournament in Topeka. That is the longest streak of wins by the Gorillas.

 The largest margin of victory by either team was a 25-point UCM win (78-53) on Jan. 3, 2000 in Pittsburg. The largest PSU win was 17 points, three different times, Jan. 12, 1998 (70-53), Jan. 13, 1999 (71- 54) and Jan. 23, 1999 (65-48).

 Central Missouri had a streak of five consecutive wins two times, from Jan. 3, 2000 to Feb. 28, 2001 and Dec. 30, 2004 to Dec. 9, 2006.
 Seven of the last 10 meetings have been decided by single digits.
 
In the Polls
Pitt State is currently ranked No. 7 in the WBCA Poll. Following the losses to Emporia State and Central Oklahoma, Pitt State dropped to No. 11 in the  WBCA Coaches Poll on Jan. 31. It was Pitt State's first week out of the top 10 since the pre-season poll. The Gorillas have been ranked as high as No. 3 several times this season. That ties the highest ranking ever for the PSU Women's Basketball Program. The Gorillas pushed their way into the top five at No. 4 with their 7-0 start to the season in the November 29 poll. The team held steady at No. 4 in the December 6 poll, but moved up to No. 3 on Dec. 13. Pitt State moved up three spots from its No. 7 spot in the Nov. 22 poll, the first regular season poll of the 2016-17 season.

  Pitt State opened the season ranked No. 12 in the WBCA Preseason Coaches Poll. This marked 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. The No. 3 ranking was the highest ever for the PSU Women's Basketball program.

 Emporia State is No. 13 in the poll, Central Missouri, No. 16 and Central Oklahoma, No. 18.   
 
Up Next
The Gorillas are already assured one of the top four spots in the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City. The team's seeding will be determined based on how they finish this week.
 
Record Setter
Pittsburg State senior Hadyn Herlocker set a school record for single game assists with 13 assists at Lincoln on December 10. The previous record was held by Megan Reid and Leslie Dudley with 12 and had stood since 1997.  

 Herlocker is on the cusp of another record, as she is just four assists from breaking the single season assists record. That record is 157 and was set by current assistant coach Amanda Davied in 2003. Herlockers 154 assists through 26 games this season is only two fewer than she had through 35 games last year. 
 
Records Check
Its time to start tracking some Gorillas in the record books. Junior Mikaela Burgess is moving up the all-time threes list. She passed Drew Roberts to move into second with 226 career threes. Burgess is averaging 2.9 made threes a game this season and would need 133 threes through the rest of this season and next for the school record. Jenni Miller holds the career record with 364. 

 Hadyn Herlocker finished last season second on the single season assists list with 156, almost double from her previous two seasons combined. Herlocker now has 395 assists for her career, which is third on the all-time list. Current assistant coach Amanda Davied is the career record holder with 553.
 
1000 and Climbing
Mikaela Burgess is not only climbing up the career-three-point list, but also now scored 1000 career points. She hit that career milestone on December 1 against Nebraska-Kearney as she hit a layup with 4:07 left in the third quarter. 

 Burgess currently has 1,327 points, 283 her freshman year, 589 last season and 441 so far this season. Her 589 points last season were third only to Lizzy Jeronimus and Leslie Dudley, the two top scorers (men or women) in Pitt State history. 

 Burgess is the 20th player in school history to score 1000 or more points in her career. She is currently No. 10 on the all-time scoring list. She needs 72 points to pass Lisa Cropper for ninth.
  
Program Milestones
Pitt State's 70-38 win over Mary was the 600th win in program history. The Gorillas now have a 622-482 (.563) all-time record. The Gorillas are 336-179 at home, 207-258 on the road and 71-42 at neutral sites. 
 
Coach Hits Milestones Too
The 81-54 win at Washburn on January 21 was the 200 at Pitt State for Head Coach Lane Lord. Lord now has a 206-92 (.692) record in his 10th season leading the Gorilla program. He is the winningest coach (by percentage) in school history. His predecessor Steve High has the most wins with 296 in 18 years.

 Lord earned his 100th win just under four years ago with a 63-48 win over Truman on Feb. 7, 2013. 

 Coach Lord now holds a 283-113 (.713) record at all collegiate levels which includes  two seasons at Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kan. His overall record at all levels is 424-175 (.707) and includes seven seasons as the head coach at Wichita Heights High School.
 
In the MIAA Stats
The Gorillas are the top three-point shooting team in the MIAA, having made 252 threes on the season, 9.3 threes per game. Pitt State is also tops in three-point defense, holding opponents to a .258 (104-403) three-point shooting percentage, and assists/turnover ratio with 1.17 assists for every turnover. Pitt State also leads with 15.30 assists per game. The Gorillas are second in the league for scoring, scoring margin and field goal percentage.

 Individually, Mikaela Burgess is the league's third leading scorer with 17.0 ppg. She leads the league with 76 threes made and 2.8 threes made a game. She is ninth in field goal percentage (.388) and first in three-point percentage (.374). Shelby Lopez is third in threes per game with 2.5 . Hadyn Herlocker leads the MIAA in assists per game with 5.9 and assists/turnover ratio with 3.4. She is fifth in steals with 2.0 steals per game. Madison Northcutt is third in rebounds with 9.0 rpg.
 
In the NCAA Stats
The Gorillas rank among the top 10 in the nation for three point defense (sixth), threes made (eighth) and threes per game (seventh).  Herlocker is 11th in the nation with her 154 assists and 13 in assists per game. She also ranks third in assists/turnover ratio. Burgess is 15th for threes attempted, 17th for threes made and 21st for threes per game.