GAME NOTES / GANNON FINAL FOUR SITE / TICKET INFORMATION / CAREER HIGHS
KUTZTOWN, PA (March 4, 2010) – The Kutztown University women's basketball team is looking forward to the opportunity of a lifetime it has in its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) semifinal contest against Gannon University, the No. 1-ranked team in the latest USA Today/ESPN Division II top 25 poll.
The Golden Bears (19-9) meet Gannon (31-0) in the second game of the PSAC semifinals at the Hammermill Center Friday night at 7:30 p.m. West Chester (19-9) battles California (22-6) in the opening game at 5:30 p.m. The two winners meet Saturday night for the championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tournament. Fans can listen to the game by CLICKING HERE or watch the game on b2networks.com for a $7 fee by CLICKING HERE.
Kutztown advanced to the semifinals by beating Bloomsburg, 74-67 in overtime on Tuesday. Gannon beat Edinboro, 81-67 in the quarterfinals after being tied 35-35 at intermission.
“We are really pumped for the challenge ahead of us,” junior guard Meredith Starr said. “As an athlete, you live for moments like this. I mean, how often does a chance to play the No. 1 team in the country happen. We have an opportunity to do something special. This game is a huge deal for us.”
It helps that Kutztown has played Gannon in each of the last two seasons. Gannon defeated Kutztown, 86-68 at Keystone Arena on Jan. 2. That contest was tied 41-41 at intermission and 49-49 with 15 minutes remaining before the Golden Knights' depth, experience and size took control.
“It is David vs. Goliath, but we're going to approach the game like any other,” Kutztown coach Janet Malouf said. “We have to do things that we do well like taking care of the ball, rebounding, playing good position defense and taking quality shots. We have nothing to lose so playing Gannon in the semifinals is not a bad predicament to be in. We know we're playing a great team, but if my kids play as hard and as well as they can, we'll give ourselves a chance to win.”
The Golden Bears were seasoned this year by a tougher schedule that featured games against four nationally-ranked schools. Kutztown was competitive in every game against a nationally-ranked foe this year. Kutztown is one win away from consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in women's basketball history. The team took a step forward by finishing 19-9 overall and second in the PSAC East to earn its first home playoff game since 1998.
“Playing a tougher schedule has helped to make us a better team,” junior forward Melissa McQuade said. “Fortunately, we have the experience of playing Gannon so we know what to expect.”
McQuade will need to continue her torrid play. She has scored 20 or more points in three of KU's last four games. She is seventh on the all-time Kutztown University scoring chart with 1,150 points. With 17 points against Gannon, McQuade will move past Patti Blackman (1,166) and into sixth place on the all-time scoring list. McQuade has led Kutztown in scoring 17 times, including the last five games.
Senior guard Rachel Wisemiller has 997 career points and is poised to become the 13th Kutztown women's basketball player in school history to score 1,000 points. Senior center Chauntelle Schroeder is averaging 9.3 points and 6.8 rebounds. Senior guard Vivian Melvin is averaging 8.3 points and leads the Golden Bears with 111 assists, which is seventh in the PSAC.
Kutztown's bench brigade of freshmen Ashley Wood, Steph Zewe, Brittany Greaves, Jackie Burg, Melanie Mahan, sophomores Brittany LeVan, Vanina Bonanno, and junior Kristen Murray will play a major role in helping Kutztown advance to the PSAC title game. Going against Gannon, the minutes they provide in helping the starters get some rest will be crucial in helping the Golden Bears have a finishing kick at the end.
“I am really happy for my seniors,” Malouf said. “They went through the tough times during their first two years and they have played a huge part in helping turn our program around. They made the commitment to be good and they made the necessary sacrifices. Last year, we lost in the first round and this year we made the semifinals so this is a huge progression for our program. Now we're hoping to take another step.”
The task of handing undefeated Gannon its first defeat of the season is monumental. The Golden Knights are the Division II-version of the University of Connecticut. Gannon owns the second-longest winning streak at any level of the NCAA, behind only NCAA Division I Connecticut's 69-game streak. The squad is the lone undefeated team left in NCAA Division II and one of five women's teams at any level. Division I UConn (30-0), Division I Nebraska (27-0), Division III Amherst (25-0) and Division III Christopher Newport (27-0) also have unblemished marks.
Gannon's top three scorers are Kristina Freeman (14.1 points per game), Carrie Nolan (12.1) and Brittany Tabron (11.3, 8.2 rebounds per game). Gannon leads the PSAC in scoring offense (79.3), scoring margin (+21.5), field goal percentage (48.2), 3-point field goal (38.2), assists (19.4), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2) and 3-pointers made per game (8.1). The Golden Knights are second in the PSAC in scoring defense (57.7), 3-point field goal percentage defense (28.4) and rebounding margin (+7.9). Twenty-six of Gannon's victories have been by double digits this season.
“We're excited to have an opportunity to play Gannon,” Melvin said. “We know it's going to be a big challenge. We know that we have to play to the best of our ability and see what happens. Having the experience of playing them helps a little because it gives us a better feel of what we're playing against and what we need to work on.”
With this being March, upsets can happen like 16th seeded Harvard winning at top-seeded Stanford in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Women's Basketball tournament or like 15th-seeded Coppin State knocking off second-seeded Texas in the opening round of the 1997 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament.
There's been plenty more of upsets like Villanova-Georgetown, N.C. State-Houston, UNLV-Duke and Arizona-Santa Clara, so winning is not an impossible task for the Golden Bears.
“We're definitely relishing the underdog role,” McQuade said. “We're really excited to play the No. 1 ranked team in the country. We're going to show up and put everything on the line and hopefully come out with one of the biggest wins in Kutztown history.”
--KU--
