PITTSBURG – Pittsburg State makes its 10th trip to the NCAA Tournament and its fifth under head coach Lane Lord this weekend as the team travel to Harding, Ark. as the No. 5 seed in the Central Region. The Gorillas will face MIAA foe Central Oklahoma in the first round at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. The winner of that game will move on to face the winner of Emporia State and Northern State. The complete schedule follows.  

Live Stats will be available for each game, as well as live video. Post-game press conferences and highlights will also be available on YouTube shortly after each game. As always, Eddie Lomshek will be calling the game live on KKOW AM 860 and KKOWradio.com  

Central Regional Schedule

Friday, March 10

Noon - No. 8 Northern State vs. No. 1 Emporia State

2:30 pm. - No. 5 Pittsburg State vs. No. 4 Central Oklahoma

5 p.m. - No. 7 Arkansas Tech vs. No. 2 Harding

7:30 p.m. - No. 6 Central Missouri vs. No. 3 Minnesota State-Moorhead

Saturday, March 11

5 p.m. - Winner of game one vs. Winner of game two

7:30 p.m. - Winner of game three vs. Winner of game four

Monday, March 13 - Championship

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

Winner moves on to the Elite Eight in Columbus, Ohio

Pitt State In the NCAA Tournament

This is the 10th trip to the NCAA Tournament for the Pittsburg State women and the fifth under head coach Lane Lord. Pitt State has a 7-8 all-time record in NCAA Tournament games. The Gorillas have made the tournament each of the last four years and five of the last six. 

Pitt State has advanced to the Elite Eight twice in school history. The first in 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.

Last season the Gorillas hosted the Central Regional and cruised to a 79-39 win over Sioux Falls in the opening round. That was the largest NCAA Tournament win in school history. The team earned a 91-80 win over Arkansas Tech before having to face rival Emporia State in the championship game. Pitt State earned the 78-74 win to advance to the Elite Eight. 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 year was 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 2-1 against Emporia State with a win in 2012, a loss in the semifinal round in 2015 and a win in the regional championship last season.

Scouting Central Oklahoma 

No. 25 Central Oklahoma is 25-7 overall and 13-6 in conference play heading into the Central Regional quarterfinals. The team had to battle Northwest Missouri, Missouri Western and Lindenwood to reach their first-ever MIAA Championship bid, but the crown went to No. 8 Emporia State.

Four Bronchos are scoring in double figures and are 2017 All-MIAA selections. Melinda Murillo, a first-team selection, leads with 14.6 points per game. Jesheon Cooper (Third Team) and Olivia Mason (Honorable Mention) average 11 points and eight rebounds apiece. Cooper also leads the MIAA with 3.1 blocks per game. Marley Anderson, also an Honorable Mention selection, pitches in 10.1 ppg and is 29-93 (.381) from three-point this season.

Central Oklahoma scores 69.3 ppg and allow opponents to just 61.4 ppg. They're shooting .407 (777-1911) from the paint, .343 (219-639) behind the arc and a conference-high .779 (445-571) from the foul line. Additionally, Central Oklahoma compiles 40.9 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 6.7 steals and an MIAA-best 5.4 blocks per game.

Scouting Pittsburg State

Pittsburg State is the No. 9 team in the country with a 24-5 record overall and a 16-3 record in MIAA play. Three of Pitt State's five 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 just over 16 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 75.3 ppg, while holding opponents to 59.0 ppg. The most points scored by the Gorillas this season were the 106 points against Lincoln on Jan. 12.

The Gorillas are shooting .441 from the floor overall and .359 from three-point range. The Gorillas make an average of 9.2 threes a game, but are holding opponents to just 3.7 made threes a game. Pitt State is also outrebounding its opponents by 5.9 rpg. 

Mikaela Burgess leads the Gorillas with 17.4 ppg and was named the MIAA Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 21-27. She was a first-team All-MIAA selection. Mikaela 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 86 threes on the season, which leads the MIAA. She also leads the MIAA with a .389 three-point percentage.

Madison Northcutt, who was named the MIAA Player of the Week on Jan. 16 and earned Honorable Mention All-MIAA accolades, is second on the team with 11.6 ppg. She is the team's leading rebounder with 8.8 rpg. She has recorded double-doubles in nine games this season. 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 9.4 ppg. Lopez has made 66 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. Lopez earned Honorable Mention All-MIAA accolades.  

Paige Lungwitz adds 8.9 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 4.7 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. For her efforst, Lungwitz was named to the MIAA All-Defensive team, as well as All-MIAA Honorable Mention.

Hadyn Herlocker chips in 7.3 ppg and leads the team with 5.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Her assists lead the MIAA, while her steals are third. She is second in the MIAA with a 3.2 assists/turnover ratio. Herlocker is also the team's third-leading rebounder with 4.3 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's 161 assists on the season are a new school record. She earned third-team All-MIAA honors.

PSU vs. Central Oklahoma

The Gorillas and Bronchos have met 28 times with PSU holding a 18-10 series advantage. The first meeting between the two teams on November 20, 1982 resulted in the Gorillas' falling by a score of 58-77. Central Oklahoma won this season's meeting, 78-74 in Pittsburg.

Prior to the loss on Jan. 26, Pitt State had won seven games in a row, the longest streak of wins in series history.  

Four of the last eight games have been decided by double digits, including one of the biggest wins in series history. The largest margin of victory in the series was a 83-53 Gorilla win on Nov. 26, 1994 in Joplin, Mo and again in the 2014-15 season, a 30-point 85-55 win in Pittsburg. The Bronchos biggest win was a 90-67 win on Nov. 25, 1989 in Pittsburg.

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. 

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 Friday's game will face the winner of Northern State vs. Emporia State at 5 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.  

With her first assist in the MIAA Tournament, Herlocker also set the school record for single season assists. She now has 161. The previous record of 157 was set by current assistant coach Amanda Davied in 2003. Herlocker was just one assist shhort of tying the record last season, as she dished out 156 assists in 35 games. 

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 235 career threes. Burgess is averaging 2.9 made threes a game this season and would need 118 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 402 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 has also 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 1,391 points, 283 her freshman year, 589 last season and 505 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 eight 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 623-484 (.563) all-time record. The Gorillas are 337-179 at home, 207-259 on the road and 71-43 at neutral sites. 

Coach Hits Milestones Too

The 81-54 win at Washburn on January 21 was the 200 th at Pitt State for Head Coach Lane Lord. Lord now has a 207-94 (.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 284-115 (.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 425-177 (.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 267 threes on the season, 9.2 threes per game. Pitt State is also tops in three-point defense, holding opponents to a .249 (106-425) three-point shooting percentage and assists with 14.83 assists per game. The Gorillas are second in the league for scoring, field goal percentage, three-point percentage and assists/turnover ratio.

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 (third), threes made 10th) and threes per game (seventh).  Herlocker is 16th in the nation in assists and  17th in assists per game. She also ranks fifth in assists/turnover ratio. Burgess is 18th for threes attempted, 10th for threes made and 13th for threes per game.