Bracket | National Tournament Press Guide
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – There is no team the Concordia University women’s basketball program has faced more often at the national tournament than Cardinal Stritch University (Wis.). Now the two sides look forward to another meeting. As part of the Naismith Bracket, the No. 1 overall seed Bulldogs will clash with the fifth-seeded Wolves at 12 p.m. CST on Friday in the second round of the 2019 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship.
Friday, March 8 | 12 p.m.
NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championships (First Round)
No. 1 Concordia (31-3) vs. No. 17 Cardinal Stritch
Sioux City, Iowa | Tyson Events Center
Webcast: NAIA Network (fee required)
Radio: 104.9 Max Country (Tyler Cavalli)
Live stats: Dakstats
Seward watch parties: THOM Auditorium (on campus)/Bottle Rocket Brewing Co.
If Cardinal Stritch is to pull the upset, it will have to avoid the turnovers that plagued eighth-seeded Wilberforce University (Ohio) in Wednesday’s first round. The Bulldogs forced 14 turnovers in the first quarter while building a 30-10 lead after 10 minutes of action. The turnover tally for Wilberforce stood at 34 by game’s end, meaning that the 2018-19 Concordia team has now broken the program record for turnovers forced in a season. Its 1,043 takeaways (30.7/game) eclipsed the previous standard of 1,014 by the 2014-15 squad.
The duo of Grace Barry and Philly Lammers pretty much did what it wanted on Wednesday. Lammers was dominant – 7-for-9 from the floor for a game high 16 points. She did all of that damage while playing just 14 minutes. That effort left Lammers with 1,511 points for her career, making her the 11th player in program history to reach the 1,500 mark. None of the five starters even reached 20 minutes of action. Barry still managed 14 points in her first career outing on the national stage.
This will be the second time in three years that Concordia will face Cardinal Stritch in the second round at the Tyson Events Center. The two programs also met at the national tournament in 2005, 2012 and 2013. In the most recent meeting, the Bulldogs, 75-56, on their way to a national semifinal appearance. In that contest, Lammers put up 20 points and 14 rebounds as a freshman. Current Bulldogs Colby Duvel and Quinn Wragge also saw significant action in that contest. Concordia is 3-1 versus Stritch at the national tournament (see below).
Concordia vs. Cardinal Stritch at the national tournament
2005 – Concordia won, 65-51 (second round)
2012 – Concordia won, 69-48 (second round)
2013 – Cardinal Stritch won, 66-60 (first round)
2017 – Concordia won, 75-56 (second round)
Head coach John Pfaffl’s squad advanced to the second round by way of an 83-73 win over No. 15 Sterling College (Kan.) on Wednesday. Kelli Schrauth put up monster numbers – 21 points and 15 rebounds. Timeah Stotts (18 points, 13 rebounds) also notched a double-double. Cardinal Stritch’s No. 7 ranking in assist-to-turnover ratio will be put to the test by the Bulldogs. Schrauth is the current national leader in field goal percentage (.645). She averages 20.0 points and 11.1 rebounds.
Projected lineups
*Scoring average in parentheses
Concordia (31-3)
G – Grace Barry, Jr., 5-7 (11.2)
G – Taylor Cockerill, So., 5-9 (15.5)
G – Riley Sibbel, Jr., 5-9 (5.2)
F – Quinn Wragge, Sr., 6-0 (10.4)
F – Philly Lammers, Jr., 5-11 (14.6)
*Note: Quinn Wragge (1,734 career points) needs three more points to move into fifth place all alone on the program’s all-time scoring list.
Cardinal Stritch (24-9)
G – Brittany Kaltenberg, Sr., 5-7 (5.0)
G – Sam Kirk, Jr., 5-7 (7.2)
G – Timeah Stotts, Jr., 5-4 (9.6)
F – Alaina Beimborn, Fr., 5-9 (2.7)
F – Kelli Schrauth, Sr., 5-11 (20.0)