DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica women's basketball team will play for a chance to qualify for its first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday night when it travels to face Martin Luther College in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament Championship game.
Game Schedule: (Game Day Media)
Saturday at Martin Luther – 7 p.m.
(Live Video | Live Stats)
About the Saints
Record: 12-14, 8-6 UMAC
-
The Saints are in this position after upsetting regular season champion and top-seeded Minnesota Morris 83-78 in overtime Wednesday night in Morris.
-
Mariah Hovick (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS) poured in a career-high 25 points in the victory, including 10 points in overtime.
-
The win was the first for the Saints in Morris since 2004.
-
It was the first UMAC Tournament victory since 2004 when they defeated Martin Luther in the semifinals.
-
CSS has won just one UMAC Tournament championship in program history and that came in 2002 when the Saints defeated Northwestern 53-52 for the title.
-
CSS is 1-2 in UMAC Tournament championship games.
-
Two of the three times the Saints have appeared in a UMAC Championship game, the margin of victory has been one point.
-
Erin Frase (Phillips, Wis./Phillips HS (UW-River Falls)), who leads the team in scoring (13.6), is averaging 16.2 points per game over her last five games.
-
The last time Frase was held under double-digits in scoring was the home loss to Martin Luther on February 2nd.
-
Frase did have a game-high 19 points in the win over Martin Luther in New Ulm.
-
Freshman Holly Peterson (Mantorville, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville HS) has scored in double-figures in back-to-back games for the first time this season, scoring a season-high 11 points in the semifinal win over Morris.
-
The Saints will need to have a better game from the free throw line on Saturday as they have just shot 53 percent (28-for-51) in the last two games.
-
CSS leads the conference, averaging 70.1 points per game and is second, making 41 percent of its field goal attempts.
About the Knights
Record: 12-14, 9-5 UMAC
-
Martin Luther is the No. 3 seed in the UMAC Tournament and also pulled off a road win of its own in the UMAC Semifinals, defeating Northwestern College in St. Paul 78-72 on Wednesday.
-
Hannah Hackbarth led the Knights with 21 points in the victory. Leah Nass added 20 points.
-
Martin Luther outscored Northwestern 42-16 in the paint.
-
MLC is making its second consecutive UMAC Tournament Championship appearance as the Knights defeated Minnesota Morris 69-63 at home last season as the No. 1 seed to qualify for its first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament appearance.
-
The Knights have won two UMAC Tournament title in program history (2006, 2012).
-
Hackbarth leads the team in scoring, averaging 12.2 points per game. She is fourth in conference, making 38 percent of her 3-point attempts.
-
Hackbarth had 20 points in the win over the Saints in Duluth.
-
MLC is second in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.336) opponents' field goal percentage (.366) and points per game allowed (60.3).
Series History: (CSS is 39-16 all-time vs. Martin Luther)
-
The teams split the regular season series with both teams winning on each others home court.
-
CSS defeated Martin Luther in New Ulm 79-70 on January 18th and the MLC returned the favor at the Reif on February 2nd 72-53.
-
This will be the third time the teams will meet in the UMAC Tournament and the Saints hold a 2-1 record in those games.
-
Martin Luther won the last UMAC Tournament meeting in 2009, defeating CSS 55-41 in New Ulm in the semifinals.
