GUILFORD RECEIVES NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PLAYOFF BID
Quakers open play this weekend at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va.
GUILFORD’S INVITATION: By virtue of its Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament title, Guilford College’s women’s basketball team (24-4, 14-2 ODAC) has received the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Guilford will make its fourth NCAA appearance in school history and second in as many years. The Quakers also played in the 2001 and 2002 NCAA Tournaments.
Guilford plays Christopher Newport University (26-2) Friday (3/1) at 7:00 p.m., or 30 minutes following the end of the other first-round game between Marymount (Va.) University (23-4) and Eastern Mennonite University (21-5), which starts at 5:00 p.m. The winners of both games meet Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in the second round. Each of the first- and second-games will be played in Christopher Newport’s Freeman Center.
TICKET INFORMATION: Reserved seats cost $8. General admission tickets cost $6. Student and senior citizen (ages 65+) tickets are $3 and children under two are free.
All tickets will be purchased through the Freeman Center ticket office at Christopher Newport beginning Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. The Freeman Center will receive ticket orders by phone (credit card sales only) at 757-594-7880. The ticket office is open weekdays from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
SERIES RESULTS: Guilford and Christopher Newport have met four times in women’s basketball and the Captains have won all four meetings, two in Newport News and two at Guilford. Christopher Newport won the most recent contest with Guilford, 71-56, Nov. 29, 2005.
Guilford leads the all-time series with Eastern Mennonite, 32-15. The league rivals met last Sunday for the ODAC title and the Quakers pulled out a 61-59 victory. Eastern Mennonite won the two regular-season meetings this year, 57-44 at Guilford and 54-47 at Eastern Mennonite. The Quakers have lost both women’s basketball games with Marymount, including a 56-52 decision Dec. 16, 2012, in Arlington, Va.
GUILFORD VS. 2013 NCAA PLAYOFF FIELD: The Quakers have a 1-3 record against the other teams in this year’s field of 64. Guilford fell at Marymount Dec. 16 and went 1-2 in three games with league-rival Eastern Mennonite. The Quakers also scrimmaged Ferrum in a preseason exhibition.
GUILFORD IN NCAA PLAYOFFS: The Quakers are making their fourth NCAA playoff appearance and have an 2-3 record in NCAA games. In 2001, Guilford won its first ODAC crown and made its NCAA tournament debut with an 80-57 home win over Meredith College. The victory sent the Quakers to Abilene, Texas, for a second-round contest against Hardin-Simmons University. Hardin-Simmons advanced to the Sweet 16 round with a 106-77 victory. In 2002, Guilford again won the ODAC title scored a 54-47 home win over Methodist College a first-round NCAA game. The win earned another trip to Hardin-Simmons, where the Cowgirls’ prevailed, 72-71.
In 2012, the Quakers won their third ODAC title and the league’s NCAA playoff bid. Guilford dropped a 59-47 opening round contest at Centre College.
THE 2013 NCAA PLAYOFFS: The Division III championship provides for a 64-team field. The NCAA granted 43 conference champions automatic qualification for the 2013 championship. One independent team and 20 other at-large picks from the remaining independent teams and automatic-qualifying conferences who did not receive their conference automatic qualification were selected with specific selection criteria approved by the Division III Championships Committee. Sixteen sites host four teams for first- and second-round competition March 1-2. Second-round winners advance to one of four sectional-round sites March 8-9. Winners of the four sectional games move on to the finals March 15-16. All games, except the finals, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The semifinals and final will be conducted at DeVos Fieldhouse on the campus of Hope College in Holland, Mich.
GUILFORD LEADERS: Tenth-year head coach Stephanie Flamini’s team enters the tournament with a 24-4 overall record, its best ledger since the 2001-02 team won a school-record 25 games. The Quakers captured the program’s fourth ODAC Tournament last weekend with three straight wins and have won 16 of their last 17 contests.
Junior forward Gabby Oglesby (Winston-Salem, N.C./Parkland) earned her second straight ODAC Women’s Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player Award last weekend. The two-time First Team All-ODAC pick leads the Quakers in scoring (11.2 ppg.), rebounding (8.0 rpg.) and blocked shots (49). She ranks second in the ODAC and ranks 79th nationally in blocks per game (1.85 bpg.). She has a team-high nine double-doubles this year and reached 1,000 points for her career Feb. 16 versus Randolph-College. Oglesby owns Guilford standards for blocks in a game (7 vs. Randolph-Macon, 1/6/12), season (68) and career (176).
Senior point guard Brittany Atwater (Durham, N.C./Ravenscroft) won Second Team All-ODAC laurels this year and was named to the All-ODAC Tournament Team for the second straight season. She hit for a career- and game-high 25 points in Guilford’s ODAC Tournament semifinal win over Virginia Wesleyan College and scored the game-winning bucket with 6.9 seconds left in the ODAC final. Atwater is a three-year starter who ranks second in the league and 102nd nationally with 3.8 assists per game. She is third in the league and 34th nationally with a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. Atwater stands fifth among Guilford’s career leaders with 330 assists and 13th with 145 steals.
Junior forward Morgan King (Teachey, N.C./New Hanover) was also renamed to the All-ODAC Tournament squad after averaging 13.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game in the three Guilford wins. She notched her sixth double-double of the season in the ODAC Tournament final with 20 points and 14 rebounds, both game highs. For the season, King stands second on the team in scoring (10.4 ppg.), rebounding (8.0 rpg.) and blocks (1.4 rpg.). Her 105 career blocked shots stand fourth in school history.
VIRGINIA BOUND: Guilford leaves campus for Newport News, Va., by charter bus late Wednesday (2/27) afternoon. Fans are invited to cheer on the team as it leaves Alumni Gym at 4:30.
GREAT DEAL FOR GUILFORD STUDENTS: Guilford students are invited to cheer on the women’s basketball team in person as the school plans to sponsor a fan bus to the game. The bus will leave Guilford Friday, March 1 at 1:00 p.m. and return the following morning at 2:00 a.m. The bus and game tickets are free. Students should contact Tracy Furjanic in Guilford’s Athletics Office at furjanictv@guilford.edu with their name, cell phone number and G-number by noon on Thursday, February 28. Food will not be provided.
Guilford girls have a great team and many local girls players should be honored if they are being recruited by their coach.