Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Women's Basketball makes their first-ever appearance at the NCAA Division II Elite Eight on Tuesday, when they face Saint Anselm in the national quarterfinals
- The Elite Eight is being hosted by Ohio Dominican University, with all games being played at Alumni Hall in Columbus Ohio
- The Lady Bulldogs advanced to the Elite Eight as the Champions of the Central Region following victories over Emporia State, Central Missouri and Fort Hays State in the regional tournament
- Saint Anselm won their first-ever East Regional Championship, defeating LeMoyne 63-61 in the final after upsetting #12/14 Bentley in the quarterfinals and taking down Stonehill in the semifinals
- The national quarterfinals will mark the first all-time meeting between SWOSU and Saint Anselm as both team's make their debut at the NCAA Division II Elite Eight
- SWOSU enters the Elite Eight with the second-longest active winning streak in NCAA Division II at 33 games, one behind top-seeded Drury, who is unbeaten this season at 34-0
 
About the Opponent
(7) Saint Anselm (22-9)
- Saint Anselm earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament, claiming the No. 7 seed in the East Region under the direction of second-year head coach Corey Boilard
- The Hawks are in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in program history and first time since 2016
- With their first win in the Regional Tournament, Saint Anselm clinched their first 20-win season since 1998-99, but they've won at least 17 games in four straight seasons
- Saint Anselm finished third in the Northeast-10 Conference with a 13-8 record in conference play and they carry a record of 9-1 in non-conference games into the Elite Eight
- The Hawks rank fourth in the NE-10 in scoring (68.3 ppg) this season while locking down defensively to hold opponents to an average of 59.0 ppg
- Junior Shannon Ryan was named a First Team All-Conference selection for SA while sophomore Peyton Steinman earned Third Team all-conference honors
 
The Series
First Meeting
 
SWOSU Notes
- Monday's regional championship win over Fort Hays State was the 99th victory for SWOSU's senior class, which is one win away from the Great American Conference record of 100 wins by Harding's senior class of 2017
- With her season-high 32-point scoring performance against FHSU, Hayden Priddy moved past Jordan Goforth for second place on the GAC's all-time scoring list
- The only player ahead of Priddy on the GAC's scoring list is teammate Hailey Tucker, who surpassed 2,300 career points in the regional final
- Tucker and Priddy have become the first set of teammates in all of NCAA Division II to play concurrently and rank first and second in their respective conference's all-time scoring list
- Priddy, who was named the Central Regional Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, is now 22 points away from passing Valerie Fariss (1989-91; 92-94) for third place on SWOSU's all-time scoring list
- Joining Tucker and Priddy on the Central Region All-Tournament Team was sophomore guard Taber Beer, who averaged 8.0 points per game and connected on 6-of-13 (46.2%) three-pointers, including the game-winner in the semifinals against Central Missouri
- Bethany Franks, who was named the GAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player, averaged a double-double at the Central Region Tournament with 12.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game
- Franks had a double-double in the first two rounds of the regional before having her streak of double-digit scoring games snapped at seven with nine points in the final against FHSU
- Tyra Aska battled foul trouble throughout the regional tournament, fouling out in both the semifinals and finals after not fouling out of any of the first 31 games this season
- SWOSU enters the Elite Eight ranked fourth in NCAA Division II in scoring, averaging 84.7 points per game for the year, which is the highest scoring offense of the eight teams remaining, just ahead of Drury at 84.5 points per game
- The Lady Bulldogs' 59 wins over the past two seasons ranks tied for sixth among Division II teams for wins in that time period and tied for third among teams remaining in the field
- Drury has won 65 games in the past two seasons, followed by Lubbock Christian with 60, then SWOSU is tied with Indiana (Pa.) and North Georgia with 59 victories
- Hailey Tucker is the highest-scoring player remaining in the field and she's now 23rd all-time in NCAA Division II with 2,302 career points scored
 
Looking Ahead
- The winner of Tuesday's contest will advance to the national semifinals, where they will play the winner between Indiana (Pa.) and Azusa Pacific on Wednesday evening at 5:00 pm in Columbus