PITTSBURG – The Pittsburg State University women's basketball team will close out the regular season slate of games by hosting Emporia State University Wednesday (Feb. 28) and Missouri Western State University Saturday (Mar. 2). The Gorillas will battle the Lady Hornets at 5:30 p.m. (CST) Wednesday at John Lance Arena/Whetzel Court, while Pitt State's match-up against the Griffons is slated for a 1:30 p.m. tip on Saturday.

Head Coach Amanda Davied
In her sixth year as head coach of her alma mater, Davied owns a 111-56 (.665) 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.

A Peek at The Gorillas
The Gorillas are 20-6 overall and 14-6 in MIAA play heading into Wednesday's action. Pitt State is in fifth place in the MIAA standings following last week's performances. As a team, the Gorillas average 76.3 points with .773/.466/.334 shooting splits (FT./FG/3PT) and 41.9 rebounds a game. Defensively, Pitt State is collecting 6.2 steals and 4.3 blocks while giving up 63.9 points a game. Individually, Pitt State is led by Karenna Gerber (Halstead, Kan.) with 16.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks a game while shooting .587 percent from the field. Sharpshooter Grace Pyle (McPherson, Kan.) is averaging 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.8 made three-pointers a game. Macie Mays (El Dorado Springs, Mo.) has emerged as one of the best freshmen in the conference with 11.0 points a game while shooting .543 percent from the field and .440 from three. Harper Schreiner (Eudora, Kan.) is stuffing the stat sheet with 7.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.7 steals a game. Jenna Shipley (Adrian, Mo.) has returned into the fray and been a spark off the bench averaging 6.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 blocks a game while shooting .500 from three and .447 from the field. Sydney Holmes (Maize, Kan.) is averaging 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds a game while shooting .471 from the field. Alba Lozano (Leganes, Spain) leads the bench unit with 5.1 points a game in 12.5 minutes while shooting .516 percent from the field. Emma Martin (Mountain Home, Ark.) is averaging 11.0 minutes off the bench adding 2.1 points and 0.8 assists a night. Savannah Campbell (Rolla, Mo.) averages 11.9 minutes off the bench for 3.7 rebounds and 3.5 points a game while shooting .554 percent from the field. Ja'Miya Brown (North Little Rock, Ark.) averages 10.7 minutes a game off the bench with the freshmen recording 2.2 points and 1.0 rebounds a game. Destiny Buerge (Carl Junction, Mo.) is averaging 10.3 minutes off the bench with 3.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists a game.

MIAA Individual Rankings
Grace Pyle leads the MIAA in 3-pointers made per game (2.8) and is second in three-point percentage among qualified shooters (.348) while being sixth in points per game (16.0). Pyle is also ninth in field goal percentage among qualified shooters (.409), 11th in assists per game (2.9), 15th in rebounds per game (6.1) and 22nd in blocks per game (0.6). Karenna Gerber leads the MIAA in field goal percentage (.587) and is second in blocks per game (1.9) while being fourth in points per game (16.2). Gerber is also eighth in rebounds per game (7.3) and 10th among qualified shooters in free throw percentage (.750). Harper Schreiner leads the MIAA for assist-turnover ratio (2.00) is second for assists per game (4.8) while being 10th in steals per game (1.7) and 19th in rebounds per game (5.8). Jenna Shipley is 13th in blocks per game (0.8). Macie Mays is 23rd in points per game (11.0). Savannah Campbell is 19th in blocks per game (0.6).

A Grand Achievement Indeed
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. Head coach Amanda Davied has coached or played with 15 (including herself) of those in program history to have scored 1000 career points.

Private Pyle, Reporting For Duty
Junior guard Grace Pyle has proven to be one of the better shooters from deep once again in the MIAA with a conference leading 73 made three's so far. Pyle is now the sixth Gorilla in program history to record back-to-back seasons making at least 50 three's following her performance against Northeastern State (Jan. 27), is eighth on the PSU career list for makes from three with 156 in 71 games and eighth in a single-season with 73.

Making A Career Out Of It
Sophomore guard Harper Schreiner has specialized in assists and steals through 57 career games for the Gorillas. Schreiner so far has dished out 251 assists and recorded 88 steals to be tied for 12th in career assists charts and 33rd for steals. This season the Eudora, Kan., native has dished out 124 assists and nabbed 43 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.

Career 100 Trifecta Completed
This 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 and with 156 made threes to date is eighth with Morgan Westhoff (2011-15) seventh making 159 in her career. 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 and with 134 blocks currently she is nine blocks away from passing Lauren Brown (2009-13) for third all-time. 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.

Stingers Buzzing Everywhere
Emporia State has a 13-13 overall record (10-10 MIAA) heading into Wednesday's action. The Lady Hornets are currently ninth in the conference standings and have qualified for the MIAA tournament. On the road this season, ESU is 3-7 with wins over Lincoln, Rogers State and Newman. As a team, Emporia State averages 65.4 points a game while holding opposing teams to 65.6 points. The Lady Hornets have a .678/.372/.297 shooting split (FT/FG/3PT) while coming away with 37.5 rebounds, 6.8 steals and 1.9 blocks a game. Faith Paramore leads the team with 14.6 points and 8.8 rebounds a game while shooting .367 from the field. Gracie Gilpin leads the team with 70 made threes shooting .343 from deep and averages 10.9 points a game. Queen Ulabo averages 9.5 points and 7.9 rebounds a game while shooting .401 from the field.

Queens Of The Court
Missouri Western is 22-4 overall, 17-3 in the MIAA heading into this weekend's action. The Griffons have clinched clinch at least a share of the MIAA regular season crown and MWSU can win the league title outright with a win over Newman University Thursday (Feb. 29) at Wichita. This will be the first MIAA title for the Griffons since 2016. On the road this season MWSU is 8-2 with losses to Nebraska-Kearney and Northeastern State. As a team the Griffons average 75.1 points a game while holding opponents to 56.5 points. Western has a .705/.454/.327 shooting split (FT/FG/3PT) while coming away with 39.3 rebounds, 11.1 steals and 3.6 blocks a game. Connie Clarke leads the team with 12.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals a game shooting .525 percent from the field in 23.6 minutes. Brionna Budgetts is averaging 10.5 points a game while shooting .322 percent from three making 46 this season to lead the team. Tiani Ellison is averaging 9.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.9 blocks a game in 14.7 minutes while shooting .532 percent from the field.

Series Records
Wednesday's contest against the Lady Hornets will be the 100th meeting between the programs. Emporia State holds a 66-33 advantage in the series overall; and in Pittsburg the Gorillas are 19-28, going 4-6 in the last 10 games at John Lance Arena. Saturday's contest against the Griffons will be the 89th meeting between the programs. Pittsburg State holds a 54-34 advantage in the series overall; and in Pittsburg the Gorillas are 22-20, going 8-2 in the last 10 games from John Lance Arena.
 

Up Next
The Gorillas are headed to the MIAA Tournament for the 16th straight season in a row and will be playing on Friday. Pittsburg State can finish the regular season anywhere from fourth-to-sixth. If Pitt State is the fourth/fifth seed they will play the fifth/fourth seed at noon on Friday (Mar. 8) at Municipal Auditorium, the sixth seed will play the third seed at 2:15 p.m. (CST) on Friday to wrap up quarterfinal action.