ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The No. 16 ranked and No. 4 seed Northwestern College (23-7, 15-7 GPAC) women's basketball team will begin their postseason play as the No. 5 seed Briar Cliff Chargers (17-12, 13-9 GPAC) visit the Bultman Center Wednesday, Feb. 23, for the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) quarterfinal round.
REGULAR SEASON MEETINGS
Northwestern swept the regular season meetings with the Chargers and the Raiders have won 10 of the last 11 meetings. The Raiders have currently won four-straight against BCU and own a 17-3 record when playing at home against the Chargers.
The two teams matched up for the first time for the 2021-22 season on Dec. 1 with Northwestern winning 70-59 against the then ranked No. 20 Chargers.
Devyn Kemble led the Raiders in scoring (18),
Molly Schany and
Taylor VanderVelde were the other Raiders in double figures that night. Schany and VanderVelde also led the team in rebounds with seven a piece. Madelyn Deitchler led the Chargers offensively with 16. Mya Hendry controlled the glass for Briar Cliff tallying 13 rebounds.
The second meeting in Sioux City on Jan. 19 saw the Raiders take a 10-point win home with them, besting the then receiving votes Charger squad. The Raiders had three players in double figures, led by
Maddie Jones with 15.
Hannah Nerem was a big contributor off the bench with 11, and
Jada Cunningham tallied 10. Deitchler again led the Chargers with 11, Payton Slaughter also finished in double digits with 10.
SCOUTING BRIAR CLIFF
The Chargers have two players averaging double digits, Deitchler with 15.0 and Konnor Sudmann averages 10.0 a game. Deitchler shoots 56.3% from the field and Sudmann comes in at 44.5%. Deitchler leads Briar Cliff on the boards with 6.5 per game.
RAIDERS IN THE GPAC TOURNAMENT
Northwestern has tallied five GPAC Tournament championships since the beginning of the conference. Since the 2015-16 season the Raiders have a 4-6 record and have made it to the semifinal round four times in that span. The last time Northwestern made the GPAC conference tournament championship was in the 2013-14 season. The No. 9-ranked Raiders defeated the No. 6-ranked ranked Mustangs 83-71 to capture the GPAC tournament title.
TICKET INFORMATION
The conference office has set the prices for this year's conference tournament as follows: $10 for adults, $3 for students (K-college). GPAC students will receive free admission with their GPAC institutional ID.
Only NAIA-issued passes will be accepted at all venues throughout the conference tournament. No Northwestern-issued passes will be accepted.
GPAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, Feb. 23
#8 Hastings vs. #1 Morningside (6:00 p.m., Sioux City, Iowa)
#5 Briar Cliff vs. #4 Northwestern (6:00 p.m., Orange City, Iowa)
#6 Concordia (Neb.) vs. #3 Dakota Wesleyan (7:00 p.m., Mitchell, S.D.)
#7 Jamestown vs. #2 Dordt (6:00 p.m., Sioux Center, Iowa)
Semifinals – Saturday, Feb. 26
Winner of 1/8 vs. Winner of 4/5 (Location & Time TBD)
Winner of 2/7 vs. Winner of 3/6 (Location & Time TBD)
Championship – Tuesday, March 1
Winner of Semifinal #1 vs. Winner of Semifinal #2 (Location & Time TBD)
Tip-off from the Bultman Center is set for 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 23.
