PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Pittsburg State University women's basketball team will travel to Arkadelphia, Ark., to battle Ouachita Baptist Tuesday (Nov. 21) and Henderson State Wednesday (Nov. 22). Tuesday's match-up against OBU has a 6:30 p.m. (CST) scheduled tipoff time, while Wednesday's action against HSU is slated to start at 2 p.m.
Tigers Scout
Ouachita Baptist was picked to finish sixth in the Great American Conference (GAC) preseason coaches' poll after a 15-13 overall record (11-11 GAC) a year ago. Ten letter winners are back with five seeing significant time in the starting lineup. OBU is off to a 2-0 start with wins over Champion Christian and Mississippi College. Laney Mears is leading the team with a 20.0 points per game scoring average. She's made eight 3-pointers and seven steals on the young season. Heidi Robinson is averaging 13.0 points and 3.5 rebounds, while Brooke Smith is averaging 11.5 points and a team-best 6.0 rebounds a game.
Reddie Set Go
Henderson State was picked to finish fifth in the GAC preseason coaches' poll following a 17-12 campaign (14-8 GAC) last season. Nine players return from last season with first-team All-GAC selection Ashley Farrar back for her graduate season. The Reddies have opened the 2023-24 campaign with a 2-1 record with their lone loss coming to Missouri Southern at the MIAA/GAC Challenge hosted by Emporia State. Individually, Farrar leads the team with 20.0 points a game and seven made 3-pointers. Tori Gittens is averaging 19.3 points a game and 6.0 rebounds. She has knocked down a team-best 11 3-pointers and is shooting a .688 percentage from distance. Natalie Cardenas averages 17.0 points and has dished out a team-best nine assists this season. Olivia Allen rounds out double-digit scoring at 10.. She also has compiled eight steals.
Gorillas Begin Season with Three Wins
Pitt State is off to a 3-0 start to the season. The Gorillas opened the campaign with a pair of wins in the MIAA/GAC Challenge at Shawnee, Okla., over Oklahoma Baptist and Southwestern Oklahoma. Pitt State added a hard fought 88-86 road win over Arkansas Tech last Thursday (Nov. 16). Grace Pyle (McPherson, Kan.) leads the team with 19.7 points per game, nine made threes and five steals. Karenna Gerber (Halstead, Kan.) is averaging 13.7 points and 5.3 rebounds a game while shooting .531 from the field. Macie Mays (El Dorado Springs, Mo.) leads the reserves with 12.3 points and 4.3 rebounds a game while shooting .700 from the field. Destiny Buerge (Carl Junction, Mo.) is averaging 8.0 points a game. Jenna Shipley (Adrian, Mo.) leads the team with five block shots, while Harper Schreiner (Eudora, Kan.) paces the squad with 8.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists a game.
Head Coach Amanda Davied
In her sixth year as head coach of her alma mater, Davied owns a 94-50 (.653) record. During her tenure as head coach, she has guided the Gorillas to the Division II National Tournament twice (2022-23 & 2018-19) with her debut season marking the first coach in program history to guide the program to a 20-win season. Davied has deep ties to the program first as a player (1999-03), graduate assistant (2003-04) and assistant coach (2004-18) while serving as the lead assistant from 2007-18 for current Division I, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), head coach Lane Lord.
MIAA Preseason Polls Rank Gorillas Third
The 2023-24 MIAA Coaches and Media Polls listed Pittsburg State third in the conference field, behind Central Missouri and Missouri Western to round out the top three. UCM and PSU made it to the NCAA Regional Tournament last season along with MSSU (5/7) and UNK (6/5) after the Jennies were crowned regular season champs and the Lions claimed the MIAA Tournament crown.
Trio Of All-MIAA Returners
Following the graduation of four-time All-MIAA guard Tristan Gegg (Altamont, Kan.) the mantel has been passed to lead the program to junior forward Karenna Gerber, junior guard Grace Pyle and sophomore guard Harper Schreiner. Gerber, a third-team All-MIAA selection last season, averaged 15.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks a game while shooting 57.6 percent from the field. Pyle received All-MIAA honorable mention honors a year ago, averaging 14.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.9 made threes and 0.9 steals a game and shooting 42.9 percent from the field (82.8 percent from the free throw line). Schreiner was the MIAA Freshman of the Year and an All-MIAA honorable mention performer after averaging 10.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.5 steals a game. She shot 49.5 percent from the floor and 86.8 percent from the charity stripe.
Up Next
Pitt State will open MIAA play next week with road match-ups against Missouri Western Thursday, Nov. 30, and Northwest Missouri Saturday, Dec. 2.
