Gorloks Headed to Indiana
For the second time in the last three years and fifth time overall in school history, Webster University will make a return trip to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament as the regular season and tournament champions from the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will travel to Greencastle, Ind., to face No. 3 ranked DePauw University on Friday, March 6 at DePauw's Raymond "Gaumey" Neal Fieldhouse.
The Gorloks, who are the No. 4 seeded team in DePauw's four-team pod, are making its fifth-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2018 when they fell 86-45 in the first round at Wartburg. Webster also played in the NCAA Tournament in 2011, 2005 and 2002 and is 2-4 all-time in the tournament with both those wins coming in 2002 as the Gorloks advanced to the Sweet 16 round.
Webster, who is sporting a 20-7 overall record this season and enters the NCAA Tournament having won seven consecutive games and is 16-1 in its last 17 games, earned its spot in the 2020 NCAA Women's Tournament thanks to claiming the automatic bid from the SLIAC after earning a 65-51 win on Saturday night over No. 3 seeded Spalding University in the championship game of the SLIAC Tournament at Webster's Grant Gymnasium.
In addition to Webster facing DePauw in Friday's first round, the other first round game at Neal Fieldhouse will feature 11th-ranked Loras College taking on Wisconsin-La Crosse. Game times have not yet been determined for this weekend's match-ups.
The winners of Friday's first-round games will meet on Saturday, March 7 with a chance to advance to the Sectionals round of the NCAA Tournament, which is scheduled for the weekend of March 13-14. The Division III Final Four is scheduled for March 20-21 at the Capital City Performance Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
DePauw, who were the NCAA Division III National Champions in both 2007 and 2013 and are making its 17th consecutive and 21st all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, is sporting a 27-1 record and earned the automatic bid from the North Coast Athletic Conference following its 66-47 win over Denison in the NCAC championship game this past Saturday. DePauw is 33-18 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and along with winning national titles in both 2007 and 2013, the Tigers were third in 2002.
Webster and DePauw have met five times previously with the most recent meeting coming in Grant Gymnasium on Dec. 20, 2006. In that game, Webster fell 94-51 to the Tigers. DePauw leads the all-time series 4-1 with Webster's win coming at DePauw (72-67) on Dec. 5, 1992.
Meanwhile, Loras College enters the NCAA Tournament sporting a 24-3 record and is making its second consecutive and fifth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Duhawks earned one of the 21 at-large spots in the tournament after finishing as runners-up in the American Rivers Conference Tournament to Wartburg College as the Duhawks 67-54 to Wartburg in the title game.
Wisconsin-La Crosse, who is making its first trip to the NCAA postseason since 2011, comes into the NCAA Tournament sporting a 19-7 record and earned an at-large berth in the tournament after falling 59-56 in the semifinals of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament to Wisconsin-Eau Claire on its home court. UWL is 5-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament but hasn't played an NCAA Tournament game since falling Wisconsin Lutheran in the first round in Bloomington, Ill, in 2011.
Complete schedule for the DePauw Pod of NCAA Division III Tournament
Friday, March 6 - First Round
Game 1 – Loras (24-3) vs. Wisconsin-La Crosse (19-7), TBA
Game 2 – Webster (20-7) vs. DePauw (27-1), 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 7 - Second Round
Game 3 - Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, TBA
STORY COURTESY OF WEBSTER UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
