REDHAWKS REACH POSTSEASON FOR FIRST TIME IN DIVISION I SCHOOL HISTORY: Seattle University will appear and host the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational postseason tournament, the first Division I postseason appearance for the Redhawks in school history. This is also the first postseason appearance for any Seattle U team since the beginning of the Division I reclassification process in 2008. The Redhawks are 12-5 at home this season, winning 10 of their last 12 home contests. They finished the regular season with a 18-11 record, including victories over 2012 NCAA Tournament participants UC Santa Barbara and Eastern Michigan. The University of North Dakota will travel to Seattle for the contest, which will take place Thursday, Mar. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Connolly Center.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
Seattle University
G: #1 Sylvia Shephard - 5-10 - So.
G: #5 Elle Kerfoot - 5-7 - Sr.
G: #11 Talisa Rhea - 5-11 - Sr.
F: #14 Ashley Ward - 5-11 - So.
C: #41 Kacie Sowell - 6-2 - So.
COACH BONVICINI COACH OF THE YEAR HISTORY: Head coach Joan Bonvicini was named College Sports Madness Independent Coach of the Year for the 2011-12 season and has now been named Coach of the Year in every conference she has been a part of. At Long Beach State, she was named WCAA Coach of the Year and Big West Coach of the Year three times (1981, 1984, 1986) and was named PCAA Coach of the Year in 1986. At Arizona, she was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1998. Regionally, she has been honored as Region VIII Coach of the Year four times (1981, 1984, 1986, 1998) and, nationally, was named NCAA Division I Coach of the Year in 1981.
SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA: North Dakota finished the regular season with a 21-10 record and won the Great West Conference championship by beating Texas-Pan American, 88-48, on Friday, Mar. 9, and topping Utah Valley, 69-56, on Saturday, Mar. 10. Allyssa Wall leads the team with 10.2 ppg and 14.4 ppg in GWC conference games.
SEATTLE U VS. NORTH DAKOTA: This will be the sixth all-time meeting between the two teams, with North Dakota holding a 4-1 advantage in the series. Seattle U last faced North Dakota twice during the 2009-10 season, once in Grand Forks, N.D. and once in Seattle, a game played at KeyArena. On Friday, Jan. 8, the Redhawks took on North Dakota on their home court and fell, 66-50. Tatiana Heck led the Redhawks with 17 points and seven rebounds. On Tuesday, Feb. 16, the Redhawks hosted UND at KeyArena and were defeated, 66-42. Heck also led SU in this game, with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Two current players have previously played against UND. Elle Kerfoot had her best performance against UND on Mar. 9, 2009, when she scored 16 points, shooting 6-for-11 from the field, and brought down five rebounds. Maggie McCarthy scored nine points and brought down five rebounds versus UND on Jan. 8, 2010.
END-OF-SEASON HONORS: Talisa Rhea and Kacie Sowell were named to the Independent Women's Basketball First Team All-Conference, and Ashley Ward was named to the Second Team. Head coach Joan Bonvicini was also named Coach of the Year and Sowell was named Player of the Year. Sowell was also named to the Fourth-Team All-Mid Major.
TEAM BANQUET HELD AT SPACE NEEDLE: On March 12, the coaches, team, family, friends, staff, and supporters, gathered at the Space Needle for the team banquet to celebrate the accomplishments of the team thus far this season, as well as to celebrate the team's postseason destiny. Several players received awards based on performance, attitude, and spirit as follows: Ashley Ward received the award for Team Free-Throw Champion, Kacie Sowell received awards for her oustanding free-throw percentage and for leading the team in points per game, Brenda Adhiambo was named Newcomer of the Year, Daidra Brown received the Defensive Player of the Year Award, Elle Kerfoot received a special ball for reaching the 1000-point mark earlier this season, Talisa Rhea received an award for leading the team in assists and was also named Most Valuable Player, and Carley Butcher and Kerfoot co-received the Redhawk Award, voted on by their team members.
SEEING DOUBLE: Kacie Sowell has notched 15 double-doubles through the first 29 games of the 2011-12 campaign, tied for 15th in the country in double-doubles. Talisa Rhea has reached double figures in scoring in 25 games, including 22 of the last 24 contests. Rhea and Sylvia Shepherd are the only other players on the Seattle U roster to notch a double-double this season. Rhea has had two, including one Jan. 14 against Chicago State that featured 11 points and 11 assists. Shephard scored a career high 23 points and 13 rebounds at Portland State on Feb. 9. Ashley Ward has reached double figures in 16 games so far this season, including back-to-back career performances of 20 points at Pacific and at UC Irvine.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Kacie Sowell is fourth in the nation in field goal percentage, hitting 60.3 percent of her field goal attempts. By hitting 85.6 percent of her free throw attempts, Ashley Ward is 25th in Division I in free throw percentage, while Talisa Rhea is 26th in the country in assists per game (5.3).
THREE-POINT QUEEN: With a three-pointer in the first minute of the second half Jan. 14 against Chicago State, Elle Kerfoot became Seattle U's all-time leader in made three-pointers (190), passing the previous mark of 168 set by Ashley Payne from 2003 to 2007. On Feb. 9 at Portland State, Kerfoot became the 11th player in program history to score 1,000 career points.