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NCAA Division II Central Region Quarterfinals (8) SWOSU (19-10) vs. (1) #7 Emporia State (28-3) Friday, March 14, 12:00 pm Searcy, Ark. (Rhodes Field House) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Listen Live SWOSU Game Notes

Setting the Stage
      A familiar setting awaits the SWOSU women's basketball team this weekend when they travel to Searcy, Ark., for the NCAA Division II Central Regional. The games will be hosted by fellow Great American Conference member Harding on their home court, Rhodes Field House, but opponent awaiting the Lady Bulldogs is Emporia State, a team that SWOSU has not faced since November of 2006.
      The Lady Hornets are the top seed in the region, but they did not get to host due to scheduling conflicts with their home arena. ESU finished second in the MIAA before defeating Central Missouri to win the conference tournament and secure their automatic bid to the tournament.
      SWOSU enters the tournament with the automatic berth from the Great American Conference after defeating #2 Harding 78-74 in the championship game of the GAC Tournament. This is the first year the GAC owns an automatic bid to the tournament, which SWOSU needed to earn the No. 8 seed after not being ranked in any of the previous regional rankings.
 
The Coaches
      Kelsi Musick is in her fifth season leading the SWOSU women's basketball program. She has improved the teams win total in all four seasons she's been at SWOSU, taking the team from three wins her first season to 25 in her fourth year and she is a two-time recipient of the Great American Conference Coach of the Year award. Musick has led the Lady Bulldogs to two 20-win seasons and two GAC Tournament titles and her career record at SWOSU is 78-64.
      Jory Collins has been a member of the coaching staff at Emporia State for 10 seasons, including the last four as the Lady Hornets head coach. He has led ESU to three MIAA Tournament Championship games and a trip to the Regional Finals last season where they were defeated by Augustana, the same team that eliminated SWOSU from the regional. Collins is 94-30 in four seasons as the head coach at ESU.
 
Last Time Out
      After seeing a 37-36 halftime advantage turn into a 54-41 deficit in less than five minutes, the SWOSU women's basketball team showed their resiliency and toughness to come-from-behind to knock off No. 2 Harding 78-74 in the Great American Conference Tournament championship game on Sunday afternoon.
      The Lady Bulldogs came out on fire, building a 21-10 lead within eight minutes as Taryn Sayama hit her first four field goal attempts of the game. As SWOSU began to cool off slightly, Harding started chipping away at their deficit before taking their first lead at 34-33 on free throws with 2:20 to play in the half. Chelsea Bates scored the final four points of the first half, including a coast-to-coast layup that gave SWOSU the lead, 37-36, at the break.
      Harding quickly flexed their muscle to start the second half, outscoring SWOSU 18-4 over the first five minutes of the half to take a 54-41 lead with 15:11 to play. The Lady Bulldogs managed to get back within single digits after a 3-pointer from Kylie Boggess and a basket from Sarina Sayama, but Harding pushed the lead back to 13 after A'ndrea Haney hit a 3-pointer with 8:39 to play, making it 68-55 in favor of the Lady Bisons.
      From that point on, however, the Lady Bulldogs dug deep and held Harding to just six points the rest of the way. Kristen Celsor hit a basket with 2:40 to play, giving the Lady Bisons a 74-70 lead, but SWOSU scored the final eight points of the game to secure the win.
      Sarah Mendoza started the final stretch with two free throws before Jaimee Cohen tied the game at 74-74 with 1:39 to play. After forcing a Harding turnover, Fisher gave SWOSU the lead for the first time since halftime on a lay in with 55 seconds to play. Cohen took a charge on the next possession, but Sarina Sayama missed two free throws with 38 seconds left and the Lady Bisons had possession with a chance to tie.
      The Lady Bulldogs defense buckled down and forced another missed shot by Harding and Boggess headed to the free throw line to clinch the game after grabbing the rebound. Making her first trip to the line all game, Boggess was clutch in hitting the final attempts with nine seconds to play and clinching the victory for SWOSU.
      Fisher and Taryn Sayama both finished with 18 points for SWOSU while Sarina Sayama and Mendoza each added 11. Fisher was named the Tournament MVP while both Sayama twins joined her on the All-Tournament Team.
 
The Series: SWOSU vs. Emporia State
      SWOSU has faced Emporia State five prior times dating back to the 1986-87 season. The Lady Bulldogs won the first two meetings in the 1980's, but ESU has won all three meetings between the schools as members of the NCAA. All three of those meetings have taken place in Emporia with the Lady Hornets defeating SWOSU 78-72 in 2002-03, 80-59 in 2004-05 and 90-56 during the 2006-07 season. This will be the first postseason meeting between SWOSU and Emporia State.
 
SWOSU in the NCAA Tournament
      The Lady Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season after not qualifying during their first 14 years as a member of Division II. Entering the tournament as the No. 7 seed, SWOSU made a splash in their first trip to the dance by knocking off No. 2 seed Central Missouri 73-71 in the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Augustana, who went on to win the region and advanced to the Final Four.
 
Checking the Standings
      SWOSU tied with East Central for second place in the Great American Conference regular season standings but the Lady Bulldogs won the rubber match of the season series in the semifinals of the GAC Tournament last Saturday. Harding was the runaway winner of the conference, holding a six-game lead on the field at the end of the regular season. Emporia State finished tied for second in the MIAA with a 16-3 conference record, one game behind conference champion Central Missouri.
 
Scouting the Opponent
      After finishing one game out of first place in the regular season standings, Emporia State won three straight games in Kansas City to win the MIAA Tournament and earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Hornets defeated Central Missouri 75-71 to win their second straight MIAA Tournament and earn an NCAA bid for the 16th time in the past 18 seasons.
      Emporia State is the third-highest scoring team in the MIAA, averaging 76.2 points per game while holding their opponents to 61.3 points per game. They also allow opponents to shoot just 36.1% from the field and 27.7% from 3-point range while averaging over nine rebounds per game more than their opposition and blocking six shots per game.
      The Lady Hornets had four players earn All-MIAA recognition, led by unanimous first team selection Laura Patrick, who averages 13.9 points per game and has made 82 3-pointers on 38.9% shooting this season. Merissa Quick was a second team all-conference performer and All-Defensive Team selection, averaging 12.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while leading the MIAA by shooting 65.5% from the field. ESU's other all-conference players were honorable mention selections Kionna Kellog and Rheanna Egli.
 
Quick Hits
- Michelle Fisher is ranked 10th among active players in 3-pointers made with 224. Carissa Wolyniec of Concordia-St Paul is the only other player in the regional with more, having made 259 career 3-pointers for the Golden Bears
- SWOSU and Emporia State are two of four teams (Central Missouri & Concordia-St Paul) which are return participants in the NCAA Division II Central Regional
- Emporia State was the No. 8 seed in the Central Regional last season and they advanced to the regional final by defeating No. 1-seed Washburn 65-58 and No. 4-seed Minnesota State 69-67
- SWOSU will be playing in Rhodes Field House for the fourth time in the past three seasons, but the Lady Bulldogs are looking for their first win in the building during that span. Harding handed SWOSU an 89-74 defeat in the arena back on February 8
- The Lady Bulldogs have five players returning with experience from last year's NCAA Tournament appearance. Fisher, Sarah Mendoza and Kylie Boggess all started both games while Taryn Sayama scored seven points in eight minutes against Augustana. Kimmi Sawatzky also saw action in both games but she will miss this year's regional due to injury