PITTSBURG – The Pittsburg State University women's basketball team will return to action Wednesday (Nov. 27) to play host to NCAA Division II Central Regional rival Arkansas Tech University.

Tipoff against the Golden Suns is set for 1 p.m. (CST) at John Lance Arena/Whetzel Court.
 
Head Coach Amanda Davied
In her seventh year as head coach of her alma mater, Davied owns a 120-59 (.670) record. During her tenure as head coach, she has guided the Gorillas to the Division II National Tournament three times (2024, 2023 & 2019) with her debut season marking the first coach in program history to guide the Gorillas 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.
 
A Peek at The Gorillas
Pitt State is off to a 5-1 start to the season. The Gorillas, ranked No. 13 in the most recent WBCA/NCAA Division II Top 25 poll, have won five straight games since a season-opening loss to No. 15 Ferris State on Nov. 2. Pitt State posed an 88-72 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma in the squad's home debut last Thursday (Nov. 21). The Gorillas, the preseason No. 1 pick in the 2024-25 MIAA Coaches Poll, posted a 24-8 record (15-7 MIAA) a year ago. Pitt State captured the MIAA Postseason Tournament crown and advanced to the NCAA Division II National Tournament. Karenna Gerber leads the team with 16.0 points and 7.5 rebounds a game while shooting a team-best .623 from the field. Macie Mays at 14.2 points a game and .561 percent from the field ranks second among team ranks. Grace Pyle has gone 17-of-50 from three-point attempts this season for .340 while averaging 13.3 points a game and hauling in 4.0 rebounds. Harper Schreiner and Maycee James have dished out 21 assists this season to average 3.5 a game. Schreiner is shooting .559 from the field and averages 9.5 points a game. James leads the team with 18 steals (3.0) while averaging 5.5 rebounds and 5.3 points a game. Savannah Campbell is the top scoring option in the early going from the bench, averaging 5.2 points a game while shooting .500 from the field.
 
She Is Ms. Consistent
Senior forward Karenna Gerber is a consistent presence on both ends of the floor with her effort and talent being on full display over her career. She ranks first in career double-doubles (23) at Pittsburg State, second in field goal percentage among qualified shooters (.588), third in blocks per game (1.51), blocks (148) and rebounds (682), sixth in rebounds per game (6.9), 10th for free throws attempted (395), 112th in free throws made (294), 13th in points (1,280), 14th for field goals made (493),and 17th among qualified players in points per game (13.1).
 
Don't Let Her Get Hot
Senior guard Grace Pyle has proven to be one of the better shooters from deep once again in the MIAA with a conference leading 84 made three's last season. Pyle is now the sixth Gorilla in program history to record back-to-back seasons making at least 50 three's and is sixth on the PSU career list for makes from three with 184 in 83 games, her next three-pointer will tie her with Drew Roberts (2009-13) for fifth in program history and will do so in less games with Roberts finishing her career with 185 made three's in 116 games played. Pyle also ranks 14th in career points per game (13.5) and is 16th in points scored (1,121).
 
Its A Game Of Give & Take
Junior guard Harper Schreiner has specialized in assists and steals through 69 career games for the Gorillas. Schreiner so far has dished out 287 assists and recorded 102 steals to be ninth in career assists charts and 31st for steals. Last season the Eudora, Kan., native has dished out 139 assists and nabbed 54 steals to lead the team in each category. Against Central Missouri (Feb. 7) she became the fourth player in program history to record 100 assists seasons as a freshman and sophomore (Amanda Davied, Kaylee DaMitz & Leslie Dudley) and the eighth time overall a player had back-to-back 100 assists seasons.
 
Big-Game Mays
Sophomore guard/forward Macie Mays had one of the better freshman campaigns in Pitt State history last season finishing the season averaging 11.2 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting .534 from the field and .419 from three. When the games mattered the most the then freshman played like a seasoned upperclassmen, helping the Gorillas to their first ever MIAA Tournament Championship and being named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 15.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals while shooting .630 from the field, .600 from three and made all 10 free throws she attempted.
 
What's Up Holmes
Senior guard Sydney Holmes successfully completed her first season in the starting lineup last campaign and looks to put together another solid year for the Gorillas as a senior. For her career, Holmes has appeared in 96 games with 548 points scored, 412 rebounds corralled and 121 assists dished out while shooting .439 from the field.
 
An International Force
Redshirt junior forward Alba Lozano from Leganes, Spain enjoyed an expanded role last season serving as either the first or second player of the bench to the tune of 5.5 points and 2.8 rebounds in 13.6 minutes a game. Lozano finished the campaign shooting .500 from the field, .309 from three and .808 from free throws. Against Nebraska-Kearney (Jan. 11) she scored a career-high 18 points helping the Gorillas to a 83-67 victory.
 
Sav In The Paint
Junior forward Savannah Campbell gained valuable experience in her sophomore campaign that should help her and the team in 2024-25. Last season the Rolla, Mo., native averaged 3.5 rebounds and 3.2 points a game while shooting .532 from the field. Against Newman (Feb. 3) she finished with a career-high 15 points against the Jets and grabbed 11 rebounds for her first collegiate double-double.
 
Nilges For 3
Senior guard Hannah Nilges introduced herself to the Pitt State faithful with a career-day against the Southern Nazarene University Crimson Storm (Nov. 3), going 6-of-8 from three for a career-high 20 points. The Jefferson City, Mo., native spent her first three collegiate seasons at Division I Drake University where she appeared in 44 games as a Bulldog.
 
Maycee On The Scene
This season the junior guard from Goddard, Kan., Maycee James has showcased multiple impactful performances. In her last performance against Northwestern Oklahoma (Nov. 21) she finished with 10 assists, seven rebounds, six steals and six assists. It marked the third time in the last five years a Gorilla finished a game with 10 assists joining Harper Schreiner (at Lincoln, Dec. 18, 2023) and Kaylee DaMitz (vs. Missouri Western, Dec. 17, 2020). The six steals were also the most since Paige Imhoff collected as many steals vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith (Nov. 18, 2017).
 
Clara From Three
Freshman guard Clara Swearingen against SNU (Nov. 3) went 2-of-2 from three-point range for her first collegiate points. This season she is 5-of-13 from three-point attempts (.385). The Nevada, Mo., native averaged 23 points a game on her way to Conference Player of the Year honors last school year at Nevada H.S.
 
Career 100 Trifecta
Last season the Gorillas have had some memorable feats accomplished involving the number 100. First, it was Grace Pyle making her 100th career three at No. 23 Missouri Western (Nov. 30) in the Gorillas 65-56 win. Pyle became the 17th Gorilla in program history to accomplish the feat. Not to be outdone, Karenna Gerber notched her 100th career block against Central Oklahoma (Dec. 9) in the 95-76 win at John Lance Arena to become the sixth in program history to accomplish the feat. Amanda Davied joined in on the fun with her 100th win as a head coach coming in dramatic fashion. Engineering a 20-point comeback that began late in the third quarter the Gorillas forced overtime and beat No. 3 Central Missouri (Dec. 16) 101-93 in Warrensburg. Davied who was the quickest to 50 wins as a head coach in program history is now also the quickest to 100 wins needing 151 games compared to her former mentor and previous record holder, Steve High who needed 156 games.
 
A Grand Feeling
Last season, Junior forward/center Karenna Gerber became the 25th member of the 1,000 career points club at Pittsburg State against Central Oklahoma (Feb. 1). Gerber also became the 13th to do so while grabbing at least 500 career rebounds and the 3rd ever to grab at least 500 career rebounds and block at least 100 career shots. Grace Pyle became the 26th member of the 1,000 point club at PSU and the ninth to have made at least 100 career threes against #18 Missouri Western (Mar. 9) in the MIAA Championships Semifinals. Head coach Amanda Davied has coached or played with 16 (including herself) of those in program history to have scored 1000 career points.
 
Gerber Becomes Double-Double Queen
With her first double-double of the 2024-25 season against Ferris State, senior Karenna Gerber set a team record for double-doubles in a career. The Haltstead, Kan., native passed PSU Hall of Famer LaTonya (McGee) Mekha (1983-86) with her 22nd career double-double against the Bulldogs. To date, Gerber has 23 career double-doubles.
 
Trio Named All-MIAA
Last season Pitt State had three named to the All-MIAA teams in Karenna Gerber, Grace Pyle and Harper Schreiner. Gerber and Pyle were first-team representatives and the only duo to be listed in the first, second or third teams among the association. Schreiner was an honorable mention for the second year in a row. 
 
Another Trip To The Big Dance
In the Gorillas 35 years of competing at the Division II level the women's basketball team has qualified for 13 National Tournament appearances. In those 13 appearances, Pitt State is 9-13 (.409) with two Elite Eight appearances in 2012 and 2016.
 
A Long Time Coming 
For the first time in program history the Gorillas won the MIAA Tournament in 2024 after finishing as runners up in 2016 and 1992. Pittsburg State is a three-time MIAA regular season champion claiming the title in the 2016-17, 1995-96 and 1991-92 seasons.
 
Golden Suns Scout
Arkansas Tech is 2-1 on the young season. The Golden Suns last took the court Nov. 19 with ATU posting a 58-43 road win over Delta State at Cleveland, Miss. The Golden Suns also defeated Champion Christian College (93-64) on Nov. 16 after dropping an 88-85 overtime decision to Arkansas-Fort Smith in their season opener on Nov. 13. ATU, which posted a 14-13 record (11-11 GAC) a year ago, was picked fifth in the Great American Conference preseason coaches poll. Olivia Jones leads the team with 15.0 points a game while shooting .400 from three (8-of-20). Hayleigh Wyrick is second on the team with 11.3 points and is second on the team with four made three-point attempts. AbbiGrace Cunningham leads the team with 6.3 rebounds a game while scoring 9.0 points nightly. Kamryn Sutterfield leads the team with 2.0 assists a game with 6.3 points and shooting .615 from the field (8-of-13). 
 
Series History Against ATU
Wednesday's contest against the Golden Suns will be the third ever meeting between the programs, with Pitt State owning a 2-0 advantage. The Gorillas beat Arkansas Tech in their last meeting Nov. 16, 2023 in Russellville, Ark., 88-86 behind Grace Pyle's 27 point performance.