PITTSBURG -- The Gorillas enter the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City as the league's top seed. Pitt State will face eighth seeded Lindenwood who earned an 85-68 win over Nebraska-Kearney on Tuesday (Feb. 28) night. The two teams will face off at 6 p.m. on Friday (March 3). The winner will move on to the semifinal to face the winner of Missouri Western and Central Oklahoma.
 
Pitt State at the MIAA Tournament
Pitt State is 11-25 in its MIAA Tournament appearances. The Gorillas have only missed the tournament two times since joining the conference, the first season (1989-90) and in 2008. PSU was one and done in its last nine tournament appearances prior to the 2009 season. The Gorillas had lost 10 games straight before earning the 81-79 win over Nebraska-Omaha in the 2009 opening round. The only time Pitt State won back-to-back games in the tournament was in 1992 and last season, when the Gorillas finished as the tournament runners up.
      Pitt State has lost five of the last six games in the MIAA Tournament. Eight of the last nine games have been decided by single digits. In their last MIAA Tournament outing, the Gorillas defeated Central Oklahoma in the 2015 Quarterfinals before falling to Emporia State in the Semifinals.                Pitt State's largest win in the MIAA Tournament was a 26-point, 79-53, win over Missouri St-Louis in 1992, the year the team finished as the runner-up. The team's largest losses were back-to-back 20-point losses to Missouri Western and Emporia State in 2006 and 2007.
 
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 Lindenwood
Lindenwood posts a 13-15 overall record and 7-12 in conference play heading into this weekend's tournament. They recently knocked off Nebraska-Kearney, 85-68 in the first round. The Lions are collectively shooting .435 (720-1656) from the field, .271 (98-361) from behind the arc and .673 (405-602) from the charity stripe.
     MIAA Freshman of the Year Kallie Bildner is averaging nearly a double-double this season (15.2 points, 9.5 rebounds per game) and is shooting .591 (107-181) from the paint. Gabby Walker pitches in 10.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Lindsay Medlen dishes out 3.5 assists per game and adds 8.5 ppg. CeCe Rapp has 27 blocks.
 
Scouting Pittsburg State
Pittsburg State is the No. 9 team in the country with a 24-4 record overall and a 16-3 record in MIAA play. Three of Pitt State's four losses have been to top 10 teams, with the fourth to a top 25 team.  
      The team has won its games by an average of almost 17 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 75.7 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 .443 from the floor overall and .360 from three-point range. The Gorillas make an average of 9.3 threes a game, but are holding opponents to just 3.6 made threes a game. Pitt State is also outrebounding its opponents by 6.1 rpg.
      Mikaela Burgess leads the Gorillas with 17.5 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 83 threes on the season, which leads the MIAA. She also leads the MIAA with a .382 three-point percentage
      Madison Northcutt, who was named the MIAA Player of the Week on Jan. 16, is second on the team with 11.6 ppg, including 13.0 ppg in conference play. She is the team's leading rebounder with 8.8 rpg. She has recovered double-doubles in each of the last six games. Northcutt is fifth in the MIAA for rebounding overall and first for offensive rebounds.
      Shelby Lopez is averaging just under double figures for the season with 9.3 ppg. Lopez has made 64 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 8.8 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 4.6 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 7.5 ppg and leads the team with 5.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Her assists lead the MIAA, while her steals are fourth. She is second in the MIAA with a 3.1 assists/turnover ratio. Herlocker is also the team's third-leading recbounder with 4.4 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 has tied the school record for single season assists. In just 28 games she has more assists than she did in 35 games last season.
 
PSU vs. Lindenwood
Pitt State is a 7-0 all-time against the Lions. The Gorillas have won all MIAA meetings between the two teams, three times in St. Charles and twice in Pittsburg. The only other time the two teams met was Dec. 20, 1997. Pitt State won the game 84-52 in Pittsburg.
The biggest Gorilla win in the series was a 32-point, 84-52, win in the first meeting on Dec. 20, 1997. The closest game was an 80-79 Pitt State win in St. Charles on Jan. 4, 2014.
This year was the first year the two teams played each other twice in the season. Pitt State won both games, 95-80, in St. Charles and 78-69 in Pittsburg.
 
In the Polls
Pitt State is currently ranked No. 9 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. 8 in the poll, Central Missouri, No. 19 and Central Oklahoma, No. 25.  
 
Up Next
The winner of the game will face either Missouri Western or Central Oklahoma in the semifinal of the MIAA Tournament at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
 
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 one assists from breaking the single season assists record. She has tied the current record of 157 that was set by current assistant coach Amanda Davied in 2003. Herlockers 157 assists through 28 games this season is more than she had through 35 games last year.
 
Records Check
Let's track 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 232 career threes. Burgess is averaging 2.9 made threes a game this season and would need 121 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 398 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 1,375 points, 283 her freshman year, 589 last season and 489 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 24 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 623-483 (.563) all-time record. The Gorillas are 337-179 at home, 207-259 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 207-93 (.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 284-114 (.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 425-176 (.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 261 threes on the season, 9.3 threes per game. Pitt State is also tops in three-point defense, holding opponents to a .246 (102-414) three-point shooting percentage, and assists/turnover ratio with 1.15 assists for every turnover. The Gorillas are second in the league for scoring, field goal percentage and assists.
      Individually, Mikaela Burgess is the league's third leading scorer with 17.5 ppg. She leads the league with 83 threes made and 3.0 threes made a game. She is 10th in field goal percentage (.406) and first in three-point percentage (.382). Shelby Lopez is third in threes per game with 2.3. Hadyn Herlocker leads the MIAA in assists per game with 5.6 and second in assists/turnover ratio with 3.1. She is fourth in steals with 2.0 steals per game. Madison Northcutt is fifth in rebounds with 9.0 rpg.
 
In the NCAA Stats
The Gorillas rank among the top 10 in the nation for three point defense (second), threes made (eighth) and threes per game (seventh).  Herlocker is 16th in the nation in both assists and  in assists per game. She also ranks fifth in assists/turnover ratio. Burgess is 16th for threes attempted, 10th for threes made and 12th for threes per game.