Women's Elite Eight Info - 3/15/18

Posted: Mar 15, 2018

Women’s Elite Eight Info– 3/15/18

Stonehill, the Division II East Regional champion, was accorded the #4 seed in the national Elite Eight to be played at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, starting on Monday. The Skyhawks drew #5 seed Indiana (PA), the Atlantic Regional victor, in the opening round with a tip time of 9:30pm EST. Top seed and undefeated defending national champion Ashland (Ohio) faces #8 seed Montana State-Billings in the other game on that side of the bracket on Monday; the winners play on Wednesday evening in the semifinals.

Stonehill has faced IUP only once before, during the 1991-’92 season, with the then-Lady Chieftains beating the then-Indians at the New Hampshire College tournament in Manchester, 87-74. The now-Crimson Hawks sport an identical record this season as Stonehill (29-3) and play out of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. They were the #3 seed in the Atlantic Region and defeated #6 California (PA), 90-65, #2 seed Glenville State, 88-68, and #7 seed Bowie State, 75-60, to claim their second regional crown. IUP features a pair of double digit scorers, Megan Smith (6-0 senior; 18.2ppg) and Carolyn Appleby (5-5 junior; 15.1ppg), and head coach Tom McConnell has trotted out the same starting five all season with Lauren Wolosik (5-9 junior; 9.7ppg), Brittany Robinson (6-0 junior; 9ppg) and Halle Denman (5-7 senior; 4.8ppg) also among the starters. The Crimson Hawks shoot better across the board than their foes (46.8%-34.4% FG; 36.8%-27% 3FG) and began the season with fifteen consecutive wins. Their three losses this term came against California (PA), Mercyhurst and Millersville, the latter in the PSAC tournament in three overtimes. Ironically, Stonehill’s only Elite Eight win, which came in 1995 (also in the Dakotas, at North Dakota State), was against Mercyhurst, which represented same region as IUP (then known as the East, now as the Atlantic). At that point Mercyhurst was not a member of the PSAC but they are now.

There is a mix of old and new among the teams in the Elite Eight this season. Stonehill is making its third appearance (1994 and 1995) while the last two defending national champions are also in the field (Ashland and Lubbock Christian):

*Team*	*Region*	*Elite Eights History*
*Central Missouri*	Central	7^th E8 overall but their first as a Central Region team. Made E8 trips as South Central champion in 1983-’86, 1989 and 1990, winning it all in 1984 and losing in the 1985 title game
*Ashland*	Midwest	4^th E8 appearance, won titles in 2014 and 2017 and lost in 2012 championship game
*Stonehill*	East	3^rd E8 appearance, others in 1994 and 1995
*Indiana, PA*	Atlantic	2^nd E8 showing, first since 1999
*Lubbock Christian*	South Central	2^nd E8 appearance; won national crown in 2016
*MSU-Billings*	West	2^nd E8 appearance, first since 1999 (same as IUP)
*Carson-Newman and Union*	Southeast/ South	First Elite Eight appearances for both

The margin of victory for Stonehill at the 2018 regional was 15.3ppg, a mark that is seventh among East Regional winners in the sixteen years since the field expanded to 64 teams. Previous regional champions from the region in this span who bettered that average have all won at least one Elite Eight game and three have advanced to the national championship game (two winners):