Having its finest season in 12 years, measured by wins and losses, the Webster University women's basketball team wants to make some noise in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.  The Gorloks hope that when the dust in the road settles, they will be making their first NCAA III Championships appearance since 2011.  But that road goes through Eureka, IL...and will require a SLIAC Championship.

In racking up a 19-6 regular season record, Webster's frantic defense has seen the team ranked throughout the season as one of the national NCAA III leaders in forced turnovers (2nd-32.04 per game), steals (2nd-17.6 per game), and assists (2nd-19.40), many coming off of fast breaks.  The Gorloks have one of the top offenses (9th-79.4 points per game) and best free throw shooting averages (8th-76.7%) as well.

Webster will face Greenville College (IL) in the semi-finals on February 23 in Eureka, IL.  The Gorloks split with the Panthers this season, beating them 80-69 on November 30 at Grant, then losing 81-76 at Greenville on January 21.  Webster has won seven of its eight, including five in a row, since that meeting.

The following preview of the 2017 SLIAC Women's Basketball Tournament is courtesy of the SLIAC Sports Information.  The tournament schedule follows the preview.  Webster students will be admitted to the tournament FREE with a Webster I.D.

After back to back tournaments with the same four teams the 2017 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament field welcomes in two new teams along with last year's defending champion, and a first time tournament host.

Eureka College secured the program's first ever SLIAC regular season title and the tournament's #1 seed this season by going 14-2 in conference play. As host the Red Devils will face #4 seed Fontbonne University, who is making their first tournament appearance since 2012, in the second semi-final game on Thursday at 8 p.m. Defending SLIAC Tournament Champion, Greenville College secured the #2 seed in the field and will face #3 seed Webster University, making their first trip since 2013, in the tournament's opening game at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The SLIAC Women's Basketball Tournament Championship game will be played on Saturday, February 25 at 1 p.m.

 

	WEBSTER UNIVERSITY 'GORLOKS' Webster comes into the SLIAC Tournament as the hottest team, winning their last five games. The Gorloks led the conference in scoring this year at 79.4 points per game, an increase of 16.1 points from last year. The Gorloks high tempo style of play allows them to get to the free-throw line over 20 times a game while forcing a remarkable 32 turnovers per game. Junior guard Kelsey Miller is the leading scorer at 11.5 points per game while junior forward Taylor Lucas is averaging 10.2 points per game while shooting 51% from the field. Freshmen guards Jade Sawyer (9.6 ppg) and Jaysea Morgan (7.7 ppg) have made an immediate impact on the court for the Gorloks. The deep Gorlok lineup features 10 players that average at least 12 minutes per game.
	EUREKA COLLEGE 'RED DEVILS' Eureka College rolled to the program's first ever SLIAC regular season title this season going 14-2 in conference play and out scoring their opponents by 18.4 points per game. The Red Devils were 18-7 overall this season and finished the year 10-2 at home. The Red Devils offense was dangerous all year long, averaging 73.8 points per game while connecting on over eight three-pointers per game. Eureka is led by junior guard and newcomer Hayley Reneau. Reneau is averaging 13.8 points per game while connecting on 58 three's this season. She is just as impressive on the defensive end where she led the conference in blocks with 34 and was second in steals with 69. Senior forward Michaela Balducci is averaging 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while junior guard Kerrigan Dura is a threat to score (9.8 points per game) or set up her teammates (4.9 assists per game).
	FONTBONNE UNIVERSITY 'GRIFFINS' Fontbonne went 13-12 during the regular season, finishing 9-7 in the SLIAC. After winning four straight games to clinch a berth into the tournament the Griffins have dropped two straight to close out the regular season. The Griffins averaged 62.7 points per game this season, sixth in the conference, while allowing the third fewest. Senior guard Emmie Haring is the engine for the Griffins. Haring holds numerous program records and became the conference's all-time leader in assists earlier this season. She currently leads NCAA Division III in assists with 190 and is also averaging 8.7 points while ranking third in the SLIAC in steals. Sophomore guard Kaitlynn Walker increased her scoring by nearly eight points from last year and leads the team this year at 12.6 points per game. Meanwhile freshman Raven Venegas has given the Griffins another weapon and is averaging 9.7 points per game while shooting 47% from the floor.
	GREENVILLE COLLEGE 'PANTHERS' After suffering back to back losses at the beginning of the month the Panthers have won four straight and are 8-2 in their last ten games. They are averaging 72.4 points per game this season, third most in the conference, and are shooting an impressive 44.9 percent as a team including 36.4 percent from three-point range, both conference bests. At 6'1" junior forward Laura Goodnight is a match-up nightmare who can go both inside and outside while averaging 12.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Sophomore Wesley Woodward is a low post threat that averages 10.9 points per game while ranking second in the SLIAC with a 52.8 field goal percentage. Senior guard Taylor Paulin has been a clutch performer for the Panthers, averaging 10.4 points per game which includes a stretch of three straight 20 point plus games earlier this year.

Tournament Tidbits
* Webster will be making their first tournament trip since 2013.
* Webster's 19 wins are the program's most since they finished with 21 wins in the 2004-05 season.
* This is the sixth consecutive trip to the SLIAC Tournament for Eureka but the first time they have hosted the tournament.
* Although they have made a conference record 18 trips to the SLIAC Tournament, this is Fontbonne's first trip since 2012.
* Greenville will be appearing in their third straight SLIAC Tournament, a program record.
* Eureka is just one of two current SLIAC schools to have never won a tournament title. Iowa Wesleyan, who has not been eligible, is the other.
* Fontbonne has the most SLIAC Tournament wins in conference history with 20, claiming three tournament titles (1998, 1999, 2010).
* Greenville picked up the program's only two wins in tournament history when they made their championship run last year.
* Did you know only one seed lower #2 has ever won the SLIAC Tournament...in 2011 when Webster won as a #3 seed. Sixteen of 21 top seeds have won.

St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, hosted by Eureka College in Eureka, Ill.

Thursday, February 23
Game 1 - #2 Greenville vs. #3 Webster, 6 p.m.
Game 2 - #1 Eureka College vs. #4 Fontbonne, 8 p.m.

Saturday, February 25
Championship Game - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 1 p.m.

Listen to Championship Game broadcast via CollegeCasts - HERE
Watch all tournament games - HERE