INDIANAPOLIS - On Friday, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference will host its first-ever Men’s and Women’s Basketball Conference Championship Tournament games, as the 2012-13 Women’s Basketball Championship begins with a semifinal game between #3 seed Cedarville and #2 seed Urbana, hosted by Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee. Following the first semifinal match, #4 Central State University will take on the top seed and host Trevecca Nazarene University Trojans.


Women’s Championship Schedule

Semifinal #1 - Friday, March 8, 2013 - 5:00 PM (CST)
#3 Cedarville University (color uniforms) vs. #2 Urbana University (white uniforms)

Semifinal #2 - Friday, March 8, 2013 - 7:30 PM (CST)
#4 Central State University (color uniforms) vs. #1 Trevecca Nazarene University (white uniforms)

NOTE: Between games one and two on Friday, the G-MAC will announce and present all the conference awards and honors, including Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Coach of the Year, and the All-Conference First, Second, and Honorable Mention teams.

Championship - Saturday, March 9, 2013 - 2:00 PM (CST)
Winner of Semifinal #1 vs. Winner of Semifinal #2 (top remaining seed will be home team and wear white)


Women’s Championship Preview

With a regular-season that came down to the final conference game between Trevecca Nazarene and Urbana for the top seed and the right to host the 2012-13 tournament, like the men’s bracket, the G-MAC championships should be an unpredictable one for the inaugural season. The Trevecca Nazarene Lady Trojans (19-7 overall and 7-1 conference) will be the top seed after dropping its only conference game at Urbana University.

Urbana will be the two-seed and ended their regular-season at 13-15 overall with a 6-2 conference record. The Blue Knights lost a thriller in the regular season finale to Trevecca Nazarene.  The only other loss Urbana suffered was away at Cedarville earlier in the season.  Both of the losses for the Blue Knights were decided by only three points - including the season finale which Urbana trailed by 20 but had the ball and a chance to tie with under ten second in the game.

Cedarville finished the season 18-8 overall, and 5-3 in conference. Although they are the third seed, Cedarville has won nine out of their last 12 contests and are improving quickly, including a NCCAA regional championship win this past weekend, which will advance them into the NCCAA National Tournament following the G-MAC Tournament (March 13-16). Cedarville has the second best overall record for the regular season and appear to be hitting their stride in time for the post-season.

Central State rounds out the list as the fourth seed in this weekend’s tournament.  At the start of the season the Marauders began with an 11-2 record, but struggled once they hit conference play.  Six of CSU’s eleven losses have been in the G-MAC. Central State advanced into the semifinal round of this G-MAC Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament after beating Ursuline at home in the first round back on March 2,  72-47 to advance to Nashville for the conference tournament.


Players to Watch

Players to watch this weekend from each team include the trio of double-digit scorers from Urbana. The conference’s leading scorer Ciara Geiger at 18.4 ppg had a conference-best five G-MAC Athlete of the Week awards and also hits a conference leading 42% of her three pointers.  She also ranks third in field goal percentage (47.8%) and ranks first in steals (2.6 steals per game).

Geiger’s teammate, Kate Francisco is fourth in the conference in scoring (12.4 ppg) with Devonyea Johnson (Urbana) also in the top ten with 10.9 points per game.

Cedarville’s Kayla Jenerette ranks second the conference in scoring with 16.0 points a game, and ranking as the conference’s second most prolific long distance shooter (40%) from three point range. Tanija Beasley (Central State) is nearly averaging a double-double with 10.4 points per game and a conference leading 9.4 rebounds per game.  

Trevecca Nazarene is led by the duo of Christina Curtner, averaging just a shade below double digits at 9.8 points per game and is fifth in field goal percentage, and Rachel Raby, who is 12th in the conference in scoring at 9.1 points a contest and grabs 6.7 boards per game which ranks fifth in the G-MAC.


Women’s Championship Match-ups

In the first semifinal, #3 Cedarville University will take on #2 Urbana University. The teams split the season series with each team winning their respective home game.  

The more thrilling of the two match ups was the first in Cedarville where the Yellow Jackets squeaked out the 77-74 victory.  Cedarville held Urbana to only 37% shooting from the field and got balanced production. Every player who played for Cedarville, scored, and four scored in double digits.   

Urbana handled the Yellow Jackets easily with a 66-48 victory on February 12. Four Blue Knights scored in double figures with Jessica Saffold leading the way with 13 points and 12 rebounds.  

This game will feature the conference’s two best scorers in Urbana forward Ciara Geiger (18.4 ppg) and Cedarville guard Kayla Jenerette (16.0 ppg).

In the second semifinal, #4 Central State University will take on the top seed and host Trevecca Nazarene University Lady Trojans.

This match up was one-sided in the regular season as Trevecca won both contests. The first came in Nashville as Central State made a run at the Trojans late, but TNU held on for a 69-60 victory.  The Trojans’ Britt Bell scored 14 and Rachel Raby added a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.  

Trevecca held Central State’s Tanija Beasley to only eights points on 4-5 shooting. The rubber match of the regular season was no contest as Trevecca ran away with the 75-52 victory.  The balanced Trojans attack included three players in double figures led by Rachel Raby who had 14 points to go with six boards. Trevecca won by 23 points without hitting a three-pointer in the game.  

This game will feature Rachel Raby and Christina Curtner for Trevecca Nazarene and Tanija Beasley for Central State, all who rank in the top-ten in scoring.


Women’s Championship Information

WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE: Click here to visit the G-MAC Women's Championship page for all the detailed information - incluing brackets, stats, results, team information, host institution information, awards, and more. 

LIVE STREAMING AND STATS: Live streaming of all games, courtesy of Trevecca Nazarene, can be viewed at G-MACsports.com. You can access the G-MAC broadcast portal (containing live stats, video, and audio) by clicking on the Live Streaming button on the main page, or the Live Broadcast link under the Multimedia tab in the main drop down menu. You can also access the broadcast through the Trevecca Nazarene broadcast portal (containing live stats, video, and audio).

TICKET INFORMATION:
General Admission - $6.00 per game
Students - $4.00 per game

Note: No artificial noisemakers are permitted during competition. Signs, placards, or banners that are insulting, offensive, or clearly in poor taste will be removed from the event.

DIRECTIONS TO TREVECCA NAZARENE:
5 minutes from downtown Nashville and 15 minutes from Nashville International Airport

On campus parking for Athletic events: From the campus entryway, continue on Lester Avenue to the top of the hill. Turn right into the roundabout, and turn right at the second opportunity in the roundabout.

Visitor parking can be found behind the Tidwell Building, the first building on your right. From the parking lot you can walk to the softball, soccer, baseball, and basketball facilities.

Address: 333 Murfreesboro Pike, Nashville, TN 37210
Main Phone (Switchboard): 615-248-1200