GLENVILLE, W. Va. - The Bloomsburg University women's basketball team makes the trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament in the Atlantic Regional, taking on host and top-seeded Glenville State after defeating Virginia State, 75-57 in the first round on Friday night. It marks the third straight trip to NCAAs for the Huskies and the ninth in school history. Glenville State earned hosting rights via a 28-3 record and the Mountain East Conference championship. The Atlantic Regional champion advances to play in the Elite Eight in Erie, Pa., March 25-28.
ONLINE COVERAGE
Fans can follow all of the NCAA Atlantic Regional contests online. Host Glenville State will offer live stats and live video of all the games while WHLM Radio will broadcast the Bloomsburg games live locally and over the Internet. Links to all of the coverage are available above.
TICKETS
Can be ordered by calling: 304-462-6188
Adults: $7.00Â
Students, Seniors and Children: $3.00Â
Tickets can be purchased at the door
NCAA TOURNAMENT OPENING TIP OVERVIEW
-The Huskies have reached the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year, the longest run for the women's basketball program since a four-year run from 1989-92.
-Bloomsburg has earned the ninth NCAA Tournament bid in school history. The Huskies are 6-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament - 3-5 in the first round; 2-0 in the second round and 1-2 in the regional final. Bloomsburg is 0-1 in the national quarterfinals.
-Friday's first round will give the Huskies an opportunity at their first NCAA Tournament win since defeating West Chester, 91-87, in the second round of the 2001 tournament.
-First round foe Virginia State and Bloomsburg have never previously met in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, the two schools have met just once in women's basketball - a 50-47 victory for Bloomsburg in the 2005 Huskies Tip-Off Classic at Nelson Field House.
-Of the seven other teams comprising the Atlantic Regional, Bloomsburg has only faced Edinboro previously in the NCAA Tournament, dropping a 1990 first round game, 82-62.
-The Huskies are guaranteed not to meet another PSAC opponent unless they reached the Regional Championship Game. Bloomsburg has not played an NCAA Tournament game against a non-conference opponent since the 2001 First Round - an 86-80 win over Belmont-Abbey.
SCOUTING THE REGIONAL BRACKET
-During the regular season, the Huskies posted a 1-2 record against teams in the Atlantic Regional, winning a game at Edinboro, 84-71, in December while dropping a pair of hard-fought games to Gannon, 65-63 in December, and 57-51 in the PSAC semifinals last weekend.
-The Atlantic Regional is comprised of three PSAC teams, three MEC teams and two CIAA teams.
-Top-seeded Glenville State leads the nation in scoring (98.3 ppg), 3-pointers per game (11.9); assist-to-turnover ratio (1.52) and turnover margin (+12.77). The Pioneers won the regional championship in 2002 and 2007 (when they also hosted) and are 60-4 in Lilly Gym over the past five years.
-Three of the top five active 3-point shooters in Division II will take part in the regional. Two Glenville State players are No. 1 and No. 2 among Division II active leaders in 3-pointers: Ginny Mills leads the nation in career 3's (291) and Kenyell Goodson ranks second with 277. Bloomsburg's
Catherine Noack (Bethlehem/Liberty) is fifth with 236.
-Noack and Gannon's Brittany Batts are the top two active players in Division II in terms of career 3-point percentage: Batts is a 43.8 percent 3-point shooter while Noack stands at 43.3 percent.
-Goodson is third in the country among active players in games played with 125.
-Gannon's Kelly Sundberg is fourth in Division II among active players with 562 career assists.
-Gannon is the top defensive team in the field, surrendering only 59.2 points per game on average.
-West Liberty's Liz Flowers is the top scorer in the regional field, averaging 17.5 ppg. Next up are Val Majewski of Edinboro (16.2 ppg);
Catherine Noack (Bethlehem/Liberty) of Bloomsburg (16.0 ppg); Kenyona Simmons of Glenville (15.8 ppg) and Chryess Lockhart of Charleston (14.8 ppg).
-Glenville State (+20.3), Gannon (+15.4) and Bloomsburg (+14.1) have the best scoring margins in the field.
-Shaw is the top rebounding team in the field, ranking third in Division II with a +9.9 margin on the boards.
-Gannon is the defending regional champion while Shaw is the only team in the field to win the national championship, doing so in 2012.
-PSAC teams won the regional eight times since 2000 - Slippery Rock (2000) and Shippensburg (2001) each once; Gannon twice (2010, 2013) and California four times (2003, 2004, 2008, 2009).
