ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's women's basketball team makes its 15th NCAA II Tournament appearance on Friday at noon when it takes on No. 3 Walsh University in the opening round of the Midwest Regional at the O'Reilly Family Event Center in Springfield, Mo.
The Flyers (19-12) are making their eighth straight appearance in the Tournament and third under head coach
Samantha Quigley Smith. Lewis is the No. 6 seed, while the Cavaliers are the No. 3 seed. Top-ranked Drury is the tournament host and No. 1 seed in the tournament.
The Flyers, coming off a 77-55 Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship game loss to Drury last Sunday, are led in scoring and rebounding by
Rachel Hinders (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) with 18.9 points and 6.9 rebounds.
Kaitlyn Williams (Homer Glen, Ill./Joliet Catholic) and
Katie Gardner (Franklin, Wis./Pius XI) are averaging 9.3 and 9.1 points per game respectively.
Stephanie Hart (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) leads the team in assists with 108 and
Morgan Glatczak (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) has blocked a total of 82 shots this season.
Lewis Women's Basketball Notes
Senior Class – Lewis seniors Hinders, Glatczak, Gardner,
Dajae Black (Chicago, Ill./Marist) and
Carly Graverson (Franklin, Wis./Franklin) have combined to play 502 games during their NCAA careers, making 204 starts and racking up 7,176 minutes of playing time, 2,754 points, 1,778 rebounds, 562 assists and 253 blocked shots.
About Walsh – The Cavaliers enter Friday's contest with a record of 28-2 overall and won the Great Midwest Regular Season and Tournament championships. They've won 23 in a row heading into the NCAA Tournament. Mayci Sales and Tyler Newkirk pace the Walsh offense with 16.9 and 12.9 points respectively. Sales and Quionche Carter lead the way on the glass with 8.4 and 7.4 rebounds per game respectively.
Series vs. Walsh – Friday's game is the third meeting all-time between Lewis and Walsh with the Flyers having won the first two. Friday's contest is a rematch of last year's Midwest Regional opening match with the second seeded Flyers defeating the seventh seeded Cavaliers 86-71 behind 39 points from
Jessica Kelliher (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North).
Strength of Schedule pays off – Lewis played arguably one of the toughest schedules in the Midwest Region this season playing eight of the 10 teams ranked in the final regional rankings heading into the conference tournament. It picked up road wins over Truman State and Southern Indiana and a home win against Lindenwood. The Flyers also take on four of the top five teams in the rankings on the road this season. They lost to Grand Valley State and Ashland back-to-back in the middle of November, lost at Ferris State in early December and at Drury in early February.
Regional Field – Lewis and Walsh will play the noon game on Friday, while No. 7 seeded Southern Indiana takes on second seeded Ashland in the quarterfinal round on Friday at 2:30 p.m. Tournament host and No. 1 seeded Drury takes on No. 8 seeded Lindenwood on Friday at 6 p.m. in the third game of the opening day, while No. 5 seeded Ferris State and No. 4 seeded Grand Valley State will play the final game of the day on Friday at 8:30 p.m. The winner of the Lewis-Walsh game faces the winner of the USI-Ashland game on Saturday at 5 p.m., while the Drury/Lindenwood winner takes on the Ferris State/Grand Valley State winner on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The championship game is scheduled to begin on Monday (March 16) at 7 p.m.
Stacked Regional Field – With an NCAA II Tournament-best combined winning percentage of .820 (196-43) and four teams inside the top seven in the latest WBCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, the Midwest Regional Field is arguably the toughest of the eight regionals in Division II. The West Regional had an .818 (198-44) winning percentage and two teams inside the top five in the WBCA Top 25 Coaches' poll while the Atlantic Region had a .813 (195-45) winning percentage. The Central region has the most wins (202), but its winning percentage is .795 (202-32).
