NCAA Tournament First Round Preview

NCAA TOURNAMENT
FIRST ROUND PREVIEW
#13 UW-Whitewater (22-4)
vs.
Concordia-Moorhead (21-5)
March 7, 2014
University of St. Thomas – St. Paul, Minn.
5:30 p.m.

Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats


SERIES: First meeting between the teams


CONCORDIA PROBABLE STARTERS
G – 03 – Greta Walsh, Fr., Litchfield, Minn. (10.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 55 assists) 
G – 12 – Erika Jossart, Sr., Bismarck, N.D. (6.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 73 assists)
F – 22 – Olivia Johnson, So., Walcott, N.D. (7.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 43.6 FG%) 
G – 32 – Alley Fisher, Jr., Fargo, N.D. (11.8 ppg, 43.0 3PT %, 88.5 FT %)
C – 44 – Alexandra Lippert, Sr., Willmar, Minn. (11.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 59 blocks)

UW-WHITEWATER  PROBABLE STARTERS
G– 05 – Kaitlyn Thill, Sr., Belgium, Wis. (13.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 101 assists, 106 steals)  
G– 10 – Abbie Reeves, So., Salem, Wis. (9.5 ppg, 34 assists, 49 3PT FG's) 
G – 11 – Amy Mandrell, Sr., Forsyth, Ill. (12.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 48.5 FG%)
G – 12 – Katie Burton, Sr., Crystal Lake, Ill. (8.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 47.2 3PT FG%)
F – 20 – Mary Merg, Sr., Greendale, Wis. (12.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 74 assists)   

COBBER NOTES
CONCORDIA NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES
Concordia-Moorhead is making its second straight trip to the national playoffs and fourth in the past six seasons.  It is the 19th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the Cobbers. Concordia is 20-18 in their previous 18 trips to the NCAA playoffs and won the national championship in 1988. Concordia has not made it out of the first round since 1995 when they lost in the second round at St. Ben's. Since then they have appeared in five national playoff games and are 0-5. Concordia is 10-8 in their 18 previous first-round games.

The Road To The Tournament
Concordia enters the 2014 NCAA Tournament having won 15 of its last 17 games. The Cobbers lost in the MIAC semifinal game 71-56 to St. Thomas. CC went just 3-for-12 from behind the arc in the game and was outscored 42-28 in the second half of play.

Behind The Record
The Cobbers have a 21-5 overall record entering the NCAA Tournament. It is the second straight 20-win campaign, third time in the last four seasons and 21st time the Cobbers have won at least 20 games in a season. CC won 20 or more games for six straight seasons from 1986-91. Concordia was 9-3 in away games this season and 1-0 in neutral court contests. The Cobbers are 3-2 at the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex since it opened for the 2010-11 season. CC is 1-0 in the building in playoffs as it won the MIAC Tournament championship against the Tommies in 2011.    

Nationally Speaking
The Cobbers were ranked in the D3hoops.com national rankings for the first time in program history this season. Concordia was ranked 25th in the Feb. 23. CC is currently in the "others receiving votes" category.

MIAC Tradition
The Cobbers tied for second place in the final MIAC regular-season standings. It marked the sixth straight season that Concordia finished in the top 3 of the standings. CC also had a 19-3 conference mark which is the second straight year they have won 19 MIAC games and sixth time in program history they have won at least 19 league games.

Stat Stuff
Concordia in the top 25 in the nation in just one statistical category. The Cobbers are currently 12th in DIII in rebounding margin. CC is outrebounding their opponents by an average of 10.0 rebounds per game this season. Concordia led the MIAC in points per game and rebound margin per game. The Cobbers scored 73.4 points per conference contest and outrebounded their MIAC foes by an average of 10.0 per game. CC was second in the MIAC in field goal percentage (42.8%) and third in 3-point field goal percentage (33.9%) and free throw percentage (73.8%).

Jess For Success
Concordia head coach Jessica Rahman is the winnignest coach in Cobber women's basketball history. Rahman became the first coach in CC basketball history to record 200 career victories on Jan. 8 when Concordia beat Carleton. Rahman is now 213-88 in her 11th season at the helm of the Cobbers.

Fab 5
Concordia had five players earn MIAC postseason honors. Kelsey Walloch was named the MIAC Sixth Player-of-the-Year. Alexander Lippert and Alley Fisher were named to the MIAC All-Conference Team and Lippert also earned All-Defensive Team honors. Olivia Johnson was placed on the All-Conference Honorable Mention Team while Greta Walsh was named to the All-First Year Team.
         
Successful Seniors
Concordia's three seniors - Erika Jossart, Alexandra Lippert and Kelsey Walloch - compiled an 81-28 (74.3%) overall mark and a 70-18 record (79.5%) in conference play. They are only the second class in the history of the program to win 70 league games.

Lippert - The One And Only
Lippert became the first player in Concordia women's basketball history to score 1,000 career points, collect 500 rebounds and block 200 shots. She reached that milestone plateau on Jan. 22 against Macalester. Lippert currently has 1,122 points, 707 rebounds and 265 blocks. She is the school's all-time block leader.

Lippert - The One And Only II
Lippert was second on the team in scoring with a 11.2 ppg average. She is coming off a career-high 25 points in the Cobbers' MIAC semifinal game. She also grabbed 10 rebounds to record her fifth double-double of the season and the 16th double-double of her career. Lippert scored in double figures in 17 of the team's 26 games this season – the most by a CC player.    

Feed Fisher
The Cobbers are 16-0 this season when junior guard Alley Fisher scores in double figures. Fisher is ninth in the nation in free throw percentage (88.5%) and led the MIAC in free throw percentage and 3-point field goal percentage (43.0%). She led the team in scoring in 2013-14 (11.8 ppg).

Walsh Watch
Freshman guard Greta Walsh scored in double figures in 13 games this season and had a career-high 21 points against Carleton on Feb. 10. She had at least one assist in 11 of the final 12 games she played in and dished out a season-high seven "dimes" vs. Minn.-Morris on Nov. 26.


WARHAWK NOTES
UW-WHITEWATER NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES
UW-Whitewater also earned one of the 21 at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament. The Warhawks were upset in the semifinals of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament by UW-Superior. Whitewater won the regular-season championship with a perfect 16-0 record. UWW heads into the national tournament with a 22-4 overall record. They will be making their seventh consecutive appearance in the NCAA playoffs and 14th overall appearance. Whitewater is 20-13 in their NCAA Tournament history. Last year UWW went 5-1 in the national playoffs and lost in the NCAA championship game to DePauw. Whitewater is 9-4 in first-round games in their previous 13 NCAA appearances and 4-2 in the previous six season.

The Road To The Tournament
UW-Whitewater had a 14-game winning streak snapped when they lost to Superior in the WIAC semifinals. The Warhawks hadn't lost in the 2014 calendar year until they lost 84-63 to the Yellowjackets. Superior won the game in the first half when they outscored Whitewater 41-25. UWW shot just 25.7% (9-for-35) in the first half of play. 

Behind The Record
The Warhawks went 10-1 at home this season and 11-1 in road games but were just 1-2 in neutral court contests. Whitewater is 3-2 against teams that made this year's NCAA Tournament. They beat WIAC tournament champion UW-Oshkosh twice during the season and also posted a victory over St. Norbert in the second game of the season. Both of their losses came at the D3hoops Classic in Las Vegas over the Christmas break. UWW lost 91-77 to Carthage and 68-67 to Ohio Northern.

Nationally Speaking
Whitewater has been ranked in the top 25 in the nation for all 13 weeks of the D3hoops.com poll. The Warhawks were ranked as high as No.3 in Week 1 and dropped to a season low 19th in Week 5. After spending four weeks in the No.11 spot, UWW dropped to No.13 after their loss in the WIAC semifinals.    
 
Stat Stuff
Whitewater is ninth in Division III in two different statistical categories. The Warhawks are ninth in free throw percentage (76.5%) and 3-point field goal percentage (36.8%). UWW led the WIAC in seven different categories and were second in four others. Whitewater led the WIAC in points per game (79.0) and were 14th in the nation in that category.

You Can't Spell Coach Without A "C"
Warhawk coach Keri Carollo was named the WIAC Coach of the Year for the second time in her career earlier this week after leading UWW to an undefeated regular season in conference play. Carollo has 229 career wins in 12 seasons and is tied for the most wins in Whitewater women's basketball history.

Fantastic 4
Whitewater had four players earn conference postseason honors. Kaitlyn Thill, Amy Mandrell and Mary Merg were all named to the All-WIAC First Team while Katie Burton earned All-Conference Honorable Mention honors. Thill and Mandrell were also placed on the All-Defensive Team.           

For The Thill Of It
Whitewater is led by senior guard Kaitlyn Thill. Thill is averaging 13.0 points per game and scored in double figures in 18 games this season and had a season-high 24 points in the first game of the year against St. Mary's (Ind.). Thill was in the top 5 of the WIAC in six different statistical categories and is currently fifth in the nation in steals per game (4.08). In addition to steals per game, she also led the WIAC in assists per game (3.9) and free throw percentage (87.4%).