The 2020 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament will tip off this Friday with a field of Fontbonne University, Greenville University, Spalding University, and Webster University. As the tournament's top seed, Webster University will host the three tournament games including the championship game at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Webster rode a 16-2 SLIAC record to the regular season title, just the second in program history. The Gorloks are 18-7 overall this season and have won five straight games as they begin the postseason. With the league's most experienced team the Gorloks are making their 4th straight postseason appearance. The only player to be on the roster all four years is the team's lone senior, guard Jaysea Morgan. Morgan is averaging 13.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game this season while leading the conference with 68 steals. Addison Beussink leads the team at 13.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while Naomi Johnson is their top outside threat (41 three-pointers). Freshman Julie Baudendistel has come on as of late, reaching double digit scoring in five of her last seven games to push her season scoring average to 10.4 points per game. Webster is leading the SLIAC in scoring average at 79.8 points per game, tops in field-goal percentage (.463) and three-point percentage (.368).
Our team has grown a lot not just in maturity but understanding game preparation, focus, and engagement on the game. What we went through last year has helped us this year in what to expect but these young strong women on this team have a relentless, energetic and passion that is amazing. We are very excited to be playing in this loaded tournament" - webster HEAD COACH jordan olufson
Fontbonne will be making their first postseason trip since 2017 after going 15-3 in the SLIAC this season. The Griffins are 16-9 overall and average 68.8 points per game this season. Two familiar faces once again lead the team; Rylee Stafford and Raven Venegas. Junior guard Rylee Stafford heads up one of the league's top three-point shooting teams. Stafford is averaging 16.4 points per game and has knocked down a SLIAC leading 76 three's this season at a 35-percent clip. Raven Venegas, an athletic forward, is averaging 11.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game this season while shooting 54-percent from the field. The difference this season for the Griffins has been the play of players beyond those two. Kourtney White is averaging 8.6 points per game while running the offense and totaling 69 assists and 50 steals. Jillian Venegas is putting up 7.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while Riley Guffey (6.7 ppg) and Mallory Proffer (6.6 ppg) offer additional scoring options.
I think the biggest difference we have this year are experienced players and more balance. We have upper classmen who have been able to lead our team and grind out some big wins. and although we have a couple girls averaging double digit points, we are getting more contributions from more of our players. I think the team has figured out what our strengths are and we are using them to our advantage." - fontbonne head coach maureen sias
Spalding is making a return trip to the postseason and Head Coach Charlie Just, in his final year of coaching, will be looking to capture a tournament title for the 3rd time. Spalding was 15-10 overall and 13-5 in the SLIAC this season. They have won four straight and are the league's top defense, limiting opponents to just 61.6 points per game. They are led by a pair of sophomores in Hunter Wright and Maleah Hirn. Wright's growth on the court has seen her increase her output to 14.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game while shooting 53-percent from the field. Hirn meanwhile is a steady hand averaging 11.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. Seniors Allison Just and Megan Goeing have provided not just leadership for the team but valuable scoring. Just is 3rd on the team at 10.8 points per game while Goeing is the team's top three-point shooter with 47 triples while averaging 9.2 points per game.
I’m very excited about this team and what they’ve been able to accomplish this year. Despite frequent lineup changes due to various injuries throughout the season, they have competed well and have beaten every team in the league. We are playing really well right now, and getting back to the tournament is a very satisfying way to end my coaching career." - spalding HEAD COACH charlie just
Although Greenville's two-year run of regular season titles came to an end they still have a chance to defend last year's SLIAC Tournament Championship. The Panthers are 16-9 overall and went 13-5 against conference competition. The Panthers' year started on a sour note when they lost All-Conference foward and last year's tournament MVP, Morgan St. James, to an injury. However the Panthers came together and carry a five game winning streak into the postseason thanks to the rest of the roster stepping up. A balanced team, Greenville is 2nd in the SLIAC in both scoring (75.5 points per game) and defense (64.0 points per game allowed). The Panthers have seven players averaging more than seven points per game. A pair of freshmen, Emily Reinneck and Madelyn Stephen, lead the way. Reinneck is averaging 12.3 points per game with a team leading 46 three's. Stephen is putting up 12.0 points per game whiel shooting a team best 51-percent from the field. Senior Hannah Krukewitt is one of the aforementioned players to step up this season. She has nearly tripled her scoring from last year, averaging 11.0 points per game and leading the team at 6.8 rebounds per game.
It has been an interesting year with injuries. We now have three seniors out for the year and several others seniors sidelined at various times during the season. The reason I think we have not only survived but in some ways thrived are Our seniors have stuck with our team every practice and game and have supported the young players every step of the way. They have shown true leadership in this way. also Our depth and young players, while carrying a bigger load than anticipated, have really risen to the to the task. They have been a fun group to coach because they do not try to do too much, they each just want to do their job well." - greenville head coach roy mulholland
Credits:
Created with an image by Markus Spiske - "Shot 2-Points"