Game Notes
SIOUX CITY, Iowa - No. 1 Davenport will take on No. 4 Walsh University in the NAIA D2 National Tournament Fab Four on Monday, March 14 at 7:00pm EST. It is the first ever matchup between the two school's and the winner will take on either No. 2 Northwestern or No. 3 Morningside in Tuesday's National Championship game.
Tournament Homepage: (Click HERE)
Day: Monday, March 14, 2011
Tipoff: 7:00pm EST
Location: Sioux City, Iowa - Tyson Events Center
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The Opponent: #4 Walsh University (American Mideast Conference)
Walsh comes into the Fab Four as maybe the second hotest team in the country as they have won 25 in a row. Their last loss came back in early December when they fell by just two points (68-66) to conference foe Daemen College. The Cavaliers bring an overall record of 30-4 into Monday's matchup as they brought home the AMC regular season and conference tournament titles.
The Cavaliers, behind head coach Laurel Wartluft, are led by forwards Katie Berry and Jessie Miller and center Cara Bedard. All three seniors are in double-figures for scoring and lead their team in almost every statistical category.
Bedard leads the team in scoring as she is averaging 13.1 pointsper game while Berry is tops in assists and steals per game. Bedard, who had 27 points and 4 rebounds in the Cavs 83-73 win over Black Hills State in the quarterfinals, leads the team in FG% and rebounds pr game at 6.1.
The two teams have three common opponents in Daemen, Cedarville and Concordia University with a combined record of 9-1 against them. It is Davenport's first ever appearance in the Final Four and it will mark the second time the Cavs have reached the semifinals after they won the National Championship in 1998. Walsh is 8-1 all-time at the tournament while the Lady Panthers are 7-6.
The Series: First meeting between two schools
NAIA National Tournament History for DU: The 2010-11 squad is making their seventh consecutive appearance at the NAIA D2 National Tournament...Davenport has an overall record of 7-6 in those seven years…The Lady Panthers have advanced to at least the second round in the past four seasons…The furthest Davenport has reached is the round of 8 in 2008-2009 where they lost to Northwestern (Iowa)…Davenport was the #8 seed in 2004-05, #6 in 2005-06, #5 in 2006-07, #2 in 2007-08 and #1 in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11…Davenport has posted wins over Southeastern (Ka.), Indiana University-Southeast, Huntington University (Ind.) and Tennessee Wesleyan College…
2011 Post-Season Quick Facts: Lady Panthers finished the season a perfect 30-0 and 16-0 in conference play...Team is only second in WHAC history to finish regular season unblemished...DU posted six wins over NAIA D1 opponents, of which five were ranked in Top 25 or receiving votes...Finished season with seven wins over Top-25 teams including #1 Northwestern (Iowa)...Ranks #1 in points per game, assists, 3-point FG made, and #2 in steals per game and assist-to-turnover margin...Kallie Benike was named WHAC Player of the Year for second time in her career and was joined by Kristi Bohem on 1st Team All-WHAC...Jeannie Closson earned All-WHAC 2nd Team honors while Carrie Grubius and Riana Hensley were named 3rd Team...Riana Hensley also was named the WHAC Newcomer of the Year
