(Ann Arbor, MI) - The Concordia Cardinals women's basketball team ended their regular season last week with a 68-62 win over rival, and second-seeded, Siena Heights in a game that help them clinch a first-round home game in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament. This Thursday, February 23, the Cardinals will play host to the fifth-seeded Cornerstone Golden Eagles.
GAME INFORMATION
#5 Cornerstone Golden Eagles at #4 Concordia Cardinals
February 23 | 7:30 PM | Cardinal Fieldhouse | Ann Arbor, MI
Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets
ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Head Coach Jessica Yonkers is in her fifth season and has seen a 7-game win improvement from a season ago. The Golden Eagles currently sit with a 14-13 record overall while boasting a 13-7 record in conference games. The Golden Eagles ended their season with a 65-54 win at Lawrence Tech last Saturday.
Cornerstone's offense is paced by three players who all average over 10 points a game in Stephanie Ainsworth (12.4 a game), Kennedy Helderop (10.3), and Mackenzie Stein (10.3). Ainsworth currently has the second-highest field goal percentage in the WHAC at 53.4% while Maddison Fulks and Olivia Kubik are 10th and 11th in the WHAC in three-point percentages at 33.9% and 33.8% respectively.
The defensive end of the game is once again anchored by Ainsworth who pulls in 8.1 total rebounds a game, which is third in the WHAC. Ainsworth also averages 2.3 blocks a game which is the best in the conference. Helderop is the best at stealing the ball in the WHAC at 2.2 steals a game.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
First-year Head Coach Elyse Schulmp has guided her team to a 17-11 record overall this season and a 13-7 WHAC record. The Cardinals ended their season on a three-game winning streak. The team will be making their 8th consecutive WHAC tournament dating back to the 2014-15 season.
Two Cardinals score at least 10 points a game as Taylor Leatherman and Samantha Dorn average 14.4 points and 13.7 points respectively, Julia Hirt sits right outside at 9.4 a game. Ellie Kallner leads the team in assists at 2.3 a game.
Leatherman sits at second in the WHAC in rebounds a game, as she pulls down a total of 8.6 a game. Mithcner is the top steals leader for the Cardinals with 1.6 a game, while Leatherman, Hirt, and Kallner also grab at least a steal a game.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT (PREVIOUS MATCHUPS)
In the two matchups this season the teams have split, with the home team taking home the win each time.
Winning the first matchup of the season was Cornerstone back on November 22 in a 71-64 close game. The Cardinals had three double-digit scorers as Taylor Leatherman, Asaria Turman, and Izzy Hadley all had at least 10 points. For the Golden Eagles Jaxi Long, Mackenzie Stein, and Stephanie Ainsworth led the charge with 25, 13, and 11 points respectively.
The second meetup of the season saw the Cardinals come away with the win in another close game. The score in the February 11 match was 74-62. Three players total surpassed the double-digit scoring mark as Jaxi Long led all scorers with 21, as Samantha Dorn followed with 19 and Keirslynn Lawless added 12 points.
Since the 1999-2000 season, Cornerstone leads the series at 31-20.
STAT COMPARISON
|
Cornerstone |
Concordia |
|
|
PPG |
71.5 |
63.1 |
|
Opponent PPG |
71.3 |
60.0 |
|
Field Goal % |
39.2% |
38.1% |
|
Free Throw % |
72.0% |
67.5% |
|
Three Points % |
31.1% |
26.5% |
|
Assists per Game |
15.8 |
13.3 |
|
Rebounds per Game |
37.6 |
38.0 |
|
Turnovers per Game |
13.7 |
15.0 |
|
Steals per Game |
8.8 |
7.3 |
|
Blocks per Game |
3.6 |
1.2 |
WHAC TOURNAMENT
First Round - Thursday, Feb. 23
#8 Lourdes (6-14/9-19) at #1 Indiana Tech (18-2/24-4), 6 p.m.
#5 Cornerstone (13-7/14-13) at #4 Concordia (13-7/17-11), 7:30 p.m.
#6 Lawrence Tech (9-11/12-16) at #3 Rochester (16-4/18-10), 6 p.m.
#7 UNOH (8-12/13-15) at #2 Siena Heights (15-4/23-5), 7 p.m.
Semifinals - Friday, Feb. 24
Winner #8/#1 vs. Winner #5/#4
Winner #6/#3 vs. Winner #7/#2
Championship - Monday, Feb. 27
Automatic Berths to NAIA Opening Round
1. Winner of the regular season - Indiana Tech
2. Winner of conference tournament (tournament runner-up receives berth if #1 and #2 are the same)
