Women's Basketball | 2/25/2019 2:09:00 PM
Goodwell, Okla. – This week, the 2018-19 Oklahoma Panhandle State University women's basketball team will be embarking on a journey no Aggies' squad has taken in their sport since the 2005-06 campaign: a trip to a conference post-season tournament. OPSU (14-14) will be the No. 8-seed in the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament, traveling to No. 1-seed Oklahoma City University on Tuesday (6 p.m.).
The winner of Tuesday's bout will advance to the SAC semifinals on Friday, March 1. The SAC championship contest will take place on Saturday, March 2 (the semifinals and finals will also both be on the campus of OCU).
GAME NOTES:
*FOLLOW THE AGGIES: Links for live video and live statistics can both be found on the Panhandle State athletics web site: www.opsuaggies.com
*OPSU AT-A-GLANCE: The Aggies clinched their post-season slot by upsetting Southwestern Assemblies of God last Thursday, 73-70, on the road. SAGU finished tied for fourth in the final SAC standings, but OPSU had its number by defeating the Lady Lions both times in the regular season. On the year, junior guard
Addison Munsch leads the Aggies in both scoring (15.6 p.p.g.) and rebounds (6.9 r.p.g.), while also rolling up five double-double games and averaging 2.3 assists per contest. Senior guard
Taylor Acosta also averages in double digits at 11.7 p.p.g. and tops Panhandle at 2.7 assists per game. Fellow senior guard
Monti Regier averages 7.5 points per game, with 189 of her 210 points (90%) scored this year coming from beyond the three-point line!
*SCOUTING THE STARS: Oklahoma City (27-3) is not only the top-seeded team in the SAC tourney, but also ranked No. 10 nationally among all NAIA Division I women's basketball teams. The Stars' three losses have all come versus nationally-ranked teams (twice to Wayland Baptist and once to Our Lady of the Lake). Averaging better than 79 points per game as a team, OCU is led by Abby Selzer, whose 17.0 p.p.g. bubbles to the top of her team's statistics, while also leading the Stars at 7.1 rebounds per game. Selzer is also the top shooting Star at 64.6 percent (192-297) from the field. Mallory Lockhart is OCU's only other double-digit scorer at 11.7 p.p.g. In all, eight OCU players average better than 5.0 points per game.
*LAST MEETINGS: The Aggies lost both regular-season meetings to the Stars in 2018-19. In the first meeting of the year in OKC, Panhandle fell by an 80-51 decision and then lost the return visit in Goodwell by an 88-42 count back on February 14.
Taylor Acosta led Panhandle State with 13 points in the last outing, while
Nadia Hayes added 11.
*LONG TIME COMING: Extinguishing the Aggies' 12-year post-season drought is especially sweet for Head Coach
Victor Esparza, himself an alum of OPSU (cl. 2008). In his first season guiding Panhandle State in 2017-18, Esparza's Aggies tied for the final tourney berth, but lost out on a spot based on tie-breaker criteria.
*SAGU GOT "ACOSTA'D": In the SAC tourney-clinching win at Southwestern Assemblies of God, Panhandles' diminutive guard
Taylor Acosta was a one-person wrecking crew. The 5'2" senior had a team-leading 19 points, including burying seven from three-point range. Acosta was an efficient 7-of-13 from the field, grabbed three rebounds and had a game-high five assists.
*MUNSCH HAS A BUNCH OF POINTS: Junior
Addison Munsch reached 1,000 career points in the Aggies' loss at Texas Wesleyan on Saturday.
*COMPLETE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
(at campus sites)
Tuesday's Games
Quarterfinals
Game 1: No. 5 Mid-America Christian (20-8) at No. 4 Southwestern Assemblies of God (20-10), 6 p.m.
Game 2: No. 6 John Brown (17-12) at No. 3 USAO (20-10), 6 p.m.
Game 3: No. 7 Texas Wesleyan (14-16) at No. 2 Wayland Baptist (25-5), 6 p.m.
Game 4: No. 8 Panhandle State (14-14) at No. 1 Oklahoma City (27-3), 6 p.m.
(at Abe Lemons Arena
Oklahoma City)
Friday's Games
Semifinals
Times TBD
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 4
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3
Saturday, March 2
Championship
Game 7: Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.
