BILLLINGS, Mont. – Separated by four hours and 30 minutes, Benedictine and John Brown University square off tonight in the first round of the 2017 NAIA Div. I Women's Basketball National Championship, presented by Wells Fargo nearly a days drive away from their respective campuses.
Tonight marks the second meeting of the season between the two schools as they opened up the season in Siloam Springs, Ark., where John Brown earned a 70-66 win.
The Match Up: No. 19 John Brown University (22-8) vs. No. 13 Benedictine Women (25-8) | 7:15 CST | Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark
Video: NAIAnetwork.com - video does have a pay per view charge.
Radio: KAIR 93.7 FM or http://streamdb7web.securenetsystems.net/v5/KAIR
Live stats (courtesy of Dakstats): http://bit.ly/2fkh6bH
ABOUT BENEDICTINE: The Ravens are making their third straight appearance in the NAIA Div. I Women's Basketball Championship and their fourth overall appearance. ... The Ravens have an overall record at the national tournament of 5-3 and are coming off a runner-up finish in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. ... They qualified for the tournament by way of the Heart's runner-up at-large.
ABOUT JOHN BROWN: The Golden Eagles earned the No. 9 at-large berth into this year's tournament. ... They went 14-4 in the Sooner Athletic Conference where they finished in third place behind tournament qualifiers Oklahoma City and Wayland Baptist. ... John Brown is making their fifth appearance at the tournament and they have an overall record of 3-4. Their last appearance came in 2014 where they advanced to the Fab Four losing to Oklahoma City.
TWEET THIS ... Notes on today's match up in 140 characters of less.
Kristen Murphy has scored 521 points this season. She needs 10 points to tie the Ravens single-season record of 531 set by Jessi Vercande. ... Ali Taff needs 2 more assists to set a new career high. She currently has 122 after setting a new career high last season with 123 assists. ... Haylee Beard enters #NAIADIWBB Tournament play ranked sixth in assist/turnover ratio (2.4). She has 76 assists to 32 turnovers this season. ... Murphy and Taff both scored in double figures in the first meeting with JBU. Murphy had 18, Taff had 11. LaRanda Thomas also scored 14. ... Serena Parker leads the Ravens in rebounding with 241. That number ranks fifth on the single-season list, five shy of Emily Smith at 246. ... Benedictine has been outrebounded by an opponent six times in 33 games. In the opener with JBU, the Golden Eagles held a 32-30 advantage. ... The Ravens 2-4 in the games where they have been outrebounded with wins over Grand View & Culver-Stockton; loses to JBU & Baker 3 times. ... Benedictine is ranked 10th in #NAIADIWBB in total rebounds with 1,374. They average 41.6 per game with a 15th-ranked margin of 7.3 per game. ... John Brown leads #NAIADIWBB in 3-pointers per game (10.8) and total 3-pointers (323). They went 11 of 24 in the first meeting of the year. ... The Golden Eagles have two players ranked in #NAIADIWBB in 3-point percentage - Jana Schammel (No. 4/44.4) and Kodee Powell (No. 6/43.6). ... John Brown is 1-4 in first-round games at the #NAIADIWBB Tournament. Their win came in 2014 over Lyon (Ark.), 70-63 en route to the Fab Four. ... Benedictine is 3-0 in the opening round with wins over Bethel (Tenn.) in 2013, Wiley (Texas) in 2015 and Montana State-Northern last year.
UP NEXT: Tonight's winner advances to the Second Round at 8 p.m. Friday (9 p.m. CST) against the winner of the Shawnee State (Ohio), William Woods (Mo.) game that is being played prior to the Ravens-Golden Eagles match up.
