ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis' women's basketball team opens play in the NCAA Tournament on Friday taking on the seventh seeded Walsh Cavaliers at the O'Reilly Family Events Center in Springfield, Mo. The Flyers enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region with a record of 26-4 while Walsh is 25-6.

Last Time Out: Lewis fell in the semifinal round of the GLVC Tournament to seventh seeded Bellarmine, 66-65 last Saturday evening in Edwardsville, Ill. Gabby Green (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) had a chance to win the game for the Flyers but her three at the buzzer rattled out. Jessica Kelliher (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North) led all scorers with 20 points while Tierney Lockett (Richton Park, Ill./Rich South) added 15, Rachel Hinders (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) finished with a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Green had 10 points.

Select Company: The Flyers are one of only 19 teams in Division II that has both of their men's and women's teams playing in the NCAA Tournament. Of those 19 teams, four of them reside in the Midwest Region (Ashland, Drury, Lewis and Walsh). Lewis is also one of nine private schools to make the NCAA Tournament and of those teams the Flyers have the best combined seed of three (men one, women two).

A look at the Cavaliers: The Cavaliers won the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament last Saturday, defeating Kentucky Wesleyan 84-68 to earn the G-MAC's automatic bid. Walsh earned its first conference championship since becoming an NCAA Division II member and is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance. The 25 wins for the Cavaliers are the most wins earned in a season since joining Division II.

Walsh is led in scoring by freshman Quionche Carter who is averaging 16.9 points per game while sophomore Mayci Sales is averaging 11.7 points per contest and leads the team in rebounding with 6.4 per outing. Carter also leads the team in assists with 62 and steals (48).

Series History: Friday's contest marks the second meeting all-time between the Flyers and Cavaliers. Lewis won the first ever meeting against Walsh 78-76 in overtime in the 2016-17 season opener in Indianapolis on Nov. 11, 2016. Jamie Johnson (South Holland, Ill./Marian Catholic) led the Flyers with 29 points in that contest while Kelliher scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Gabby Green (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) added six points and 10 assists in the game.

Up Next: If Lewis wins on Friday it'll advance to the Midwest Region semifinals on Saturday to take on the winner of the game between No. 6 Truman and No. 3 Grand Valley State at 5 p.m.