Official 2017 Midwest Regional Tournament Page
(Links to video/stats)
NCAA DII Women's Basketball Championship Bracket
ASHLAND, Ohio - The Great Midwest Athletic Conference will be represented by two institutions, Malone and Ursuline, when the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Midwest Regional tips off this evening from Kates Gymnasium at Ashland University.
No. 8 seed and G-MAC tournament champion Malone will match up against No. 1 / regional host Ashland at 5 p.m. EST. No. 4 seed and at-large selection Ursuline has a first-round contest scheduled against Grand Valley State at 7:30 p.m. EST. The winners from both games would play on Saturday, March 11.
This is the first time that the G-MAC will have two schools represented in NCAA Championship Midwest Regional competition.
Live stats and video/audio can be viewed for each contest courtesy of Ashland University.
The Pioneers (23-6, 12-2 G-MAC) of Malone have the unenviable task of meeting the undefeated Ashland Eagles (31-0, 20-0 GLIAC), who have been ranked at the top of the women's basketball national poll for most of the season.
But the mistake would be sleeping on Malone, which was picked sixth in the G-MAC Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour. The Pioneers came in as a relative unknown in their first year with the league, but turned heads under first-year head coach Rick Tice as the season progressed.
Malone is now on an 11-game win streak, none sweeter than cutting down the nets and holding up the program's first trophy in Pepper Pike, Ohio, in the G-MAC Championship game against Ursuline.
Malone's senior guard Rachel Goddard is arguably as hot as any player in the country coming into the national tournament. In her last three games, Goddard is averaging 25 points on 62 percent shooting while converting 11-of-14 tries from three-point territory. Hannah McCue (14.9 ppg) and Baylen Dyrlund (12.3 ppg) were both all-conference selections and will play a big factor tonight.
Ashland averages over 95 points per game and the frontcourt punch of Laina Snyder (17.3 ppg) and Andi Daugherty (15.1 ppg) present major matchup problems. Malone had the best scoring defense in the G-MAC and in the Midwest Region, allowing just around 60 ppg.
Ursuline (23-7, 13-1 G-MAC) is in familiar territory as a back-to-back NCAA Championship qualifier and will go in as the slight favorite against Grand Valley State. The Arrows sported a conference-record 16-game win streak and two-time G-MAC Player of the Year Laney Lewis (16 ppg, 11.8 rpg) is a handful for the opposition.
Experience is going to do nothing but help this year's Ursuline's program. The projected starting five of Erica Huber, Natalie Koenig, Camryn Hill, Brigan Wymer and Lewis, remained intact from a year ago.
The Arrows will be undaunted by the spotlight after nearly taking down Ashland in last year's regional at the same site, where Ursuline was pegged as the No. 8 seed in the bracket.
GVSU is 23-7 overall and are led by 10 points apiece from Janae Langs and Taylor Parmley.