New Faces Look To Make History
The Tournament
After back to back tournaments with the same four teams the 2017 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament field welcomes in two new teams along with last year's defending champion, and a first time tournament host.
Eureka College secured the program's first ever SLIAC regular season title and the tournament's #1 seed this season by going 14-2 in conference play. As host the Red Devils will face #4 seed Fontbonne University, who is making their first tournament appearance since 2012, in the second semi-final game on Thursday at 8 p.m. Defending SLIAC Tournament Champion, Greenville College secured the #2 seed in the field and will face #3 seed Webster University, making their first trip since 2013, in the tournament's opening game at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The SLIAC Women's Basketball Tournament Championship game will be played on Saturday, February 25 at 1 p.m.
Broadcast Information
The Championship Game of this year's SLIAC Women's Basketball Tournament will be broadcast live on College Casts by the crew of Buzz Swanston and Eric Callison. You can listen to the Championship Game HERE You can also watch all three games of the tournament on Video HERE
EUREKA COLLEGE 'RED DEVILS' The Red Devils offense was dangerous all year long, averaging 73.8 points per game while connecting on over eight three-pointers per game. Eureka is led by junior guard and newcomer Hayley Reneau. Reneau is averaging 13.8 points per game while connecting on 58 three's this season. She is just as impressive on the defensive end where she led the conference in blocks with 34 and was second in steals with 69. Senior forward Michaela Balducci is averaging 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while junior guard Kerrigan Dura is a threat to score (9.8 points per game) and set up her teammates (4.9 assists per game). |
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Overall Record: 18-7 SLIAC Record: 14-2 Tourn. Appearances: 6 Tourn. Titles: 0 Last Championship: n/a |
Coaches Corner with Steve Thompson Although you lost your leading scorer from last year, your offense has jumped from 60.2 points per game to 73.8 points per game; what has helped your offense take that next step? |
FONTBONNE UNIVERSITY 'GRIFFINS' Senior guard Emmie Haring is the engine for the Griffins. Haring holds numerous program records and became the conference's all-time leader in assists earlier this season. She currently leads NCAA Division III in assists with 190 and is also averaging 8.7 points while ranking third in the SLIAC in steals. Sophomore guard Kaitlynn Walker increased her scoring by nearly eight points from last year and leads the team this year at 12.6 points per game. Meanwhile freshman Raven Venegas has given the Griffins another weapon and is averaging 9.7 points per game while shooting 47-percent from the floor. |
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Overall Record: 13-12 |
Coaches Corner with Maureen Sias This is the team's first trip to the postseason since 2012, how rewarding was it for the team to get back into the tournament? "Emmie has been a key to our success this year. Her ability to get the ball in her teammates' hands and put them in a scoring position is amazing. Plus with the addition of Raven, Emmie's abilities are elevated. Raven gives us a post presence we've needed. Her ability to score with her back to the basket but also step out makes her hard to guard. Kaitlyn has improved immensely from last year due to her off-season commitment. She spent many hours in the gym developing her outside shooting and ability to drive to the basket." |
GREENVILLE COLLEGE 'PANTHERS' At 6'1" junior forward Laura Goodnight is a match-up nightmare who can go both inside and outside while averaging 12.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Sophomore Wesley Woodward is a low post threat that averages 10.9 points per game while ranking second in the SLIAC with a 52.8 field goal percentage. Senior guard Taylor Paulin has been a clutch performer for the Panthers, averaging 10.4 points per game which includes a stretch of three straight 20 point plus games earlier this year. |
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Overall Record: 17-8 |
Coaches Corner with Roy Mulholland This is the program's third consecutive year appearing in the SLIAC Tournament and you are the defending Champions, how do you think your previous experiences have prepared this year's team? You have three players that really balance your scoring out, how does that balance help you? |
WEBSTER UNIVERSITY 'GORLOKS' Junior guard Kelsey Miller is the leading scorer at 11.5 points per game while junior forward Taylor Lucas is averaging 10.2 points per game while shooting 51-percent from the field. Freshmen guards Jade Sawyer (9.6 ppg) and Jaysea Morgan (7.7 ppg) have made an immediate impact on the court for the Gorloks. The deep Gorlok lineup features 10 players that average at least 12 minutes per game. |
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Overall Record: 19-6 |
Coaches Corner with Jordan Olufson This is the first time the Gorloks have made the tournament since 2013 and your 19 wins are the most since 2004-05, what has been the big change to your success this year? Your team really emphasizes pressure, both on offense and defense. What does playing up-tempo mean for your team? |
Tournament Tidbits
- This is the sixth consecutive trip to the SLIAC Tournament for Eureka but the first time they have hosted the tournament.
- Although they have made a conference record 18 trips to the SLIAC Tournament, this is Fontbonne's first trip since 2012.
- Greenville will be appearing in their third straight SLIAC Tournament, a program record.
- Webster will be making their first tournament trip since 2013.
- Eureka is just one of two current SLIAC schools to have never won a tournament title. Iowa Wesleyan, who has not been eligible for the tournament, is the other school.
- Fontbonne has the most SLIAC Tournament wins in conference history with 20, claiming three tournament titles (1998, 1999, 2010).
- Greenville picked up the program's only two wins in tournament history when they made their championship run last year.
- Webster's 19 wins are the program's most since they finished with 21 wins in the 2004-05 season.
- Did you know only one seed lower than the #2 seed as ever won the SLIAC Tournament? That was in 2011 when Webster won as a #3 seed. In fact 16 of 21 times the top seed has won with last year stopping a streak of four straight top seed victories.
is your game plan to slow them down and come away with a win?
“They are playing very well with a tremendous senior leadership. They are the
o You’ve made the tournament the past 5 years, which are the only 5 years Eureka College
has ever made the tournament. What do you need to do to come up with the first
tournament championship in the history of the program?
“We need to show up and build our confidence. At the end of the day we are all
o You were 2-7 to start the season and are clicking at the right time. How do you carry
that momentum over into the post-season?
“We need so things to break our way early to build some confidence. That’s
number one seed for a reason and we need to get it going early.”
0-0 coming into the tournament.”
what helped us turn it around this year. We’ve been knocked back a little bit
and if we can get it started early, we can get something going.”