SEATTLE U WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ADVANCES TO WBI SEMIFINALS: Seattle University women's basketball defeated Wright State, 82-65, in the quarterfinals of the Women's Basketball Invitational on Sunday, Mar. 18 and will host Northern Iowa (18-14) for a semifinal matchup on Wednesday, Mar. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Connolly Center. The winner will face the winner of the Minnesota/Manhattan contest, which will be played on Friday, Mar. 23, at 7 p.m CST. If the Redhawks win on Wednesday, they will host the winner of the Minnesota/Manhattan contest for the WBI Championship game on Sunday, Mar. 25 at 6 p.m. Seattle U is now 14-5 at home, winning 12 of their last 14 home contests. Ticket prices are as follows: $12 reserved seats, $8 general admission, $5 students/youth/senior citizens. The first 100 Seattle U students (with ID) will get a free ticket. There will also be a pregame "Chalk Talk" with assistant coach Kristen O'Neill at 6:20 pm in the second floor quiet exercise room at Connolly. The team's season highlight video will also be played prior to Kristen's talk. Tickets are available by phone at (206) 398-GOSU or at the O'Brien Center between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Tuesday or 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Tickets will also be available when doors open at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday 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.
THE WRIGHT STATE GAME: The team earned their 20th win of the season, securing their first 20-win season as an NCAA Division I program, topping Wright State, 82-65 in the WBI quarterfinals. The Raiders took two early leads, but the Redhawks dominated the remainder of the game. They held a 10-point lead, 42-32, at the half and led by as many as 15 in the first half, 26-11 with 10:10 remaining before the halftime break. The Redhawks held their largest lead of the game, leading by 19, with 3:54 left in the game and came away with a 17-point victory. Kacie Sowell notched her 17th double-double of the season, her seventh in the last eight games, scoring 16 points and bringing down 14 rebounds. Talisa Rhea led the team with 18 points, six rebounds, and seven assists. Molly Fox led Wright State with 23 points and 10 rebounds. The Redhawks led the Raiders in field-goal percentage (43.2 percent to 37.5 percent), three-point field-goal percentage (37.5 percent to 29.4 percent), and free-throw percentage (100.0 percent to 77.8 percent) as well as in rebounds (43-40), assists (22-11), and steals (16-4).
SCOUTING NORTHERN IOWA: Northern Iowa is the No. 7 seed in the west and is 18-14 going into Wednesday's semifinal matchup. They beat the west region No. 2 seed, Stephen F. Austin, 83-67, in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational and topped west region No. 3 seed, Sam Houston State, 78-69, in the second round. The win over Stephen F. Austin was the program's first-ever postseason victory, after going 0-5 in past seasons in two NCAA tournament appearances and three WNIT appearances. The Panthers are on a two-game winning streak after finishing the regular season on a three-game losing streak. K.K. Armstrong leads the team with 13.6 ppg, 70 steals, and 131 assists, and has started all 32 games for UNI this season. Armstrong recorded the second triple-double in UNI history versus Sam Houston State, finishing with 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. Katelin Oney is also contributing 13.2 ppg and Rachel Madrigal is scoring 12.3 ppg. As a team, the Panthers are shooting 39.0 percent from the field, including 30.3 percent from behind the three-point line and 69.6 percent from the free-throw line.
SEATTLE U VS. NORTHERN IOWA: This will be the first ever meeting between Seattle University and Northern Iowa.
WBI RANKINGS: Seattle U is among the leaders in several categories among WBI teams. They lead all WBI teams ranked by the NCAA in scoring offense (71.7), scoring margin (7.7), field-goal percentage (43.6 percent), and rebound margin (5.8), are ranked second in assists per game (16.3), steals per game (10.8), and win-loss percentage (64.5 percent), and are tied for fourth in assist-turnover ratio (.86). Three Redhawks also rank among the top individually as Talisa Rhea ranks second among WBI players in assists per game (5.2), Ashley Ward ranks first in free-throw percentage (85.6 percent), and Kacie Sowell ranks first in field-goal percentage (57.7 percent), and third in double-doubles (17).
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Kacie Sowell is fifth in the nation in field goal percentage, hitting 57.7 percent of her field goal attempts. By hitting 85.6 percent of her free throw attempts, Ashley Ward is 24th in Division I in free throw percentage, while Talisa Rhea is tied for 26th in the country in assists per game (5.2).
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 (193), 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.