Local Sports

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Women's Basketball: Oilers are ready to continue their fight

By BRIAN LESTER

STAFF WRITER

Kayla Brown has played nearly 30 games this season for the University of Findlay women's basketball team.

The freshman from Riverdale will tell you her body has felt the wear and tear of a much longer and more grueling college basketball campaign.

"At some point it just hits you that you have played over 25 games," Brown said. "So, I would say that it is a factor, but we are going to try and make it more of a positive than a negative. We want to come out playing fresh instead of looking beat down and exhausted."

At this juncture of the season, every player has their share of bumps and bruises. But the Oilers (21-8) are willing to deal with a little more pain if it means playing more basketball.

UF is in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional for the first time in school history. It will make its tourney debut Friday on the campus of top-seeded Michigan Tech when it clashes with Wisconsin-Parkside (23-7) in an 8:30 p.m. quarterfinal.

The winner plays Michigan Tech (28-2), ranked fifth in the nation and the GLIAC champion or Northern Kentucky (17-8) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

For Brown, a reserve guard for a UF team that has 20 wins for the first time since 2000, the opportunity to experience March Madness is unbelievable.

"Getting this chance as a freshman is, honestly, amazing," Brown said. "Just by knowing how hard and how long the upperclassmen have worked to get here and to finally be able to achieve it is incredible. I consider myself to be lucky to be part of something so big for the women's basketball program."

Indeed, the times haven't always been good for the Oilers. The senior class has endured its share of struggles.

There was the 6-21 campaign during its freshman season; the nine-win season a year later; and the disappointment of falling one game short of playing in the conference tourney last season.

Through it all, the veterans never lost sight of their lofty goal. Winning a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South Division title and reaching the semifinals of the conference tournament helped UF make that NCAA tourney dream a reality.

"Myself, along with the other seniors, set this as one of our goals our freshmen year," senior guard Maggie Gompers said. "We knew that this was the year we had the talent and dedication to achieve it."

Head coach Kate Cummings was hired four years ago to revive the once-proud program.

"We feel so lucky to have at least one more opportunity to play," Cummings said. "The seniors have worked so hard for this and no matter what happens, they have left a legacy and have raised the bar here."

Parkside will present its share of challenges. The Rangers are coming off a 68-63 loss to Drury in the Great Lakes Valley Conference title game and have four players averaging at least 10 points per game.

Sophomore guard/forward Brittany Beyer is the top scoring threat, averaging 15.2 points and grabbing 5.3 rebounds per outing as well. Junior center Brittany Hogen (15.1 ppg) is the team's leading rebounder at 9.1.

"I feel like we match up well with them," Cummings said. "They have a good inside-outside game like we do and it's really going to come down to which team gives the best effort."

UF is coming off a 71-64 loss to Northern Michigan in the semifinal round of the conference tourney.

"We learned that we have to be able to execute on both ends of the floor for 40 minutes," senior point guard Audra Mihalic said.

Mihalic averages 14.4 points; sophomore Laura Bardall 15.9, Gompers and Brown 7.3 and 5.6 ppg, respectively, and Gompers has drilled 60 3-pointers.

Senior Megan Sellers has been tough on the boards, pulling down 8.2 rebounds per game. Senior center Jessica Vorst is grabbing 5.5 rebounds per game.

The Oilers are averaging 69.1 ppg and allowing 59.9. Only eight teams have scored 70 or more points against UF this season.

"We have to be able to give the kind of effort where we are going to fight for every rebound and loose ball and handle adversity," Cummings said.

Midwest Regional

friday's Quarterfinals

GAME 1 -- No. 3 Drury (26-6) vs. No. 5 Southern Indiana (20-8), noon

GAME 2 -- No. No. 2 Indianapolis (24-3) vs. No. 7 Northern Michigan (19-9), 2:30

GAME 3 -- No. 1 Michigan Tech (28-2) vs. No. 8 Northern Kentucky (17-8), 6

GAME 4 -- No. 4 Wisconsin-Parkside (23-7) vs. Findlay (21-8), 8:30

Saturday's Semifinals

Game 1 winner vs. Game 2, 5

Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7:30

Winners play for championship, Monday, 7

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