Harding (23-6) vs. No. 19 Wayne State College (Neb.) (27-5)
Location: Hays, Kansas
When: Friday
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Coaches:
Harding – Tim Kirby (193-96, 10th season)
Wayne State – Chris Kielsmeier (144-40, 7th season)
Live Stats/Live Audio/Live Video– Available on a link at HardingSports.com

HARDING                                    

- Harding, who is the No. 5 seed, will play No. 4 seed Wayne State College on Friday at 7:30 p.m., in the first round of the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament hosted by Fort Hays State in Hays, Kansas. It is the second straight year the Lady Bisons have advanced to the NCAA National Tournament.

- Harding will be looking for its first tournament win on Friday. Last season, the Lady Bisons fell to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) member Concordia-St. Paul in Searcy in its first appearance in the National Tournament. Harding, who was the No. 2 seed last season, hosted the 8-team regional.  Concordia-St. Paul went on to win the tournament defeating Emporia State 70-67.

- Harding heads into the tournament with a 23-6 overall record and have won its last four games. The Lady Bisons are coming off winning their first Great American Conference Tournament Championship on Sunday. Harding defeated Arkansas Tech in Bartlesville, Oklahoma 68-50 to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

- In the GAC Tournament Championship game, the Lady Bisons were led by Arielle Saunders who scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Saunders made 8-of-12 from the field and made 4-of-6 free throws. Sophomore guard A'ndrea Haney scored 17 points and was perfect from the free throw line, making 13-of-13. Freshman guard Sydney Layrock, who was named the tournament most valuable player, scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds. All three players were named to the GAC All-Tournament team.

- Harding won its 23rd game of the season on Sunday. It is the second straight year the Lady Bisons have won 20 games. It is the fourth time in Harding's 31 years they have won at least 23 games in a season.

- Harding had three players named All-GAC this season. Senior forward Arielle Saunders was named 1st Team All-GAC, senior forward Montana Lewis was 2nd Team, and sophomore guard A'ndrea Haney was honorable mention All-GAC. Saunders was also named GAC Player of the Year. The Lady Bisons have had at least two All-GAC honorees in each of their four seasons in the conference and had four last season.

- The Lady Bisons are led on the season by Arielle Saunders who ranks sixth in the GAC in scoring, averaging 16.6 points and ranks second in the GAC in rebounds, averaging 11.0 per game. She also ranks sixth in the GAC in field goal percentage, shooting 52.2 percent from the field.

- Saunders has 1,346 career points which ranks eighth all-time at Harding. She is only the third player in Harding history to get to 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Saunders picked up her 300th career assist on Sunday. She currently ranks eighth all-time at Harding in assists and needs eight more to move into seventh.

- Saunders has 19 double-doubles this season as she past Heather Lawrence (1999-03) for the most in a season in the NCAA era. Lawrence had 15 in the 2002-03 season. Saunders has recorded 44 double-doubles in her career which is 19 more than second place Lawrence who had 25 in her career. Three times this season Saunders has had 10 or more points, 10 or more rebounds and five or more assists.

- Montana Lewis also averages in double figures for Harding. She is second on the team in points, averaging 10.7 per game and second on the team in rebounds averaging 5.9 per game. Lewis needs 14 more points to move into 12th place all-time at Harding. She currently has 1,062 points.

- A'ndrea Haney is third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.0 per game. She ranks third in the GAC in assists averaging 3.6 per game and is fourth in the GAC in steals averaging 2.2 per game.

- Senior guard Tabitha Haney needs seven more 3-pointers to move into fourth place at Harding. She currently sits in fifth place all-time at Harding with 150. She needs seven more to move into fourth place and pass Kinsey Tucker (2004-08) who had 156 in her career. Haney is only the fifth player in Harding history to make 150 career 3-pointers.

- The Lady Bisons have hit 207 3-pointers this season which ranks third in the GAC and ranks fifth all-time at Harding in a season. It is only the fifth time Harding has made 200 3-pointers in a season. The Lady Bisons set the mark last season making 249. Harding needs six more to move into second place in 3-point field goals made in a season.

- Freshman guard Lundon Williams leads the Lady Bisons with 43 3-pointers. Correy Moyer has made 33 and Montana Lewis has made 31. Tabitha Haney needs two more to reach 30 and A'ndrea Haney needs three more. If either Haney makes 30 it would be the fourth time in the NCAA era, Harding has had four players with 30 or more 3-pointers in a season. If both Haney's reach 30, it would be the first time in the NCAA era. Harding has never had five players make over 30 3-pointers in a season.

- The Lady Bisons also rank third in the GAC in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 35.0 percent. Williams is shooting 45.3 percent from behind the 3-point line to rank first in the GAC and Correy Moyer ranks eighth, shooting 37.1 percent.

- In each of the GAC Tournament games, Harding held its opponents to scoring 50 points or less. It also held opponents to shooting under 29 percent from the field and 28 percent from behind the 3-point line. In the three games, the Lady Bisons shot 41.6 percent from the field, shot 81.7 percent from the free throw line, averaged 42.7 rebounds, and averaged 8.7 steals and 4.0 blocks.

- Harding is 2-0 in the state of Kansas. The Lady Bisons traveled to Olathe, Kansas in 1995 to participate in Classic hosted by MidAmerica Nazarene. Harding defeated Ozarks 75-65 on Dec. 1 and then defeated host team Mid-America Nazarene 83-66 on Dec. 2.

- Friday's game will mark only the second time Harding has faced a member of the NSIC. The only other team the Lady Bisons have faced was Concordia-St. Paul last season.

N0. 19 WAYNE STATE COLLEGE

- Wayne State, who is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, heads into the tournament with a 27-5 record.

- Wayne State earned an at large bid after falling to Northern State 61-45 in the NSIC Tournament Championship game.

- The Wildcats were ranked tied for No. 19 in the latest USA Today Sports Division II Women's Basketball Top-25 poll released on Wednesday. Wayne State College (Nebraska) is tied with Wayne State University (Michigan) for the 19th spot.

- It is the seventh time the Wildcats have been to the NCAA Tournament. Wayne State holds a 6-6 record and it is the second straight year the Wildcats have made the tournament. Wayne State won its first game 83-77 over Pittsburg State but fell to Emporia State 76-69 in the semifinals last season in Searcy.

- The Wildcats have won 18 of their last 20 games and four of their last five games.

- Wayne State is 2-1 this season on a neutral floor and is 11-3 away from its home court.

- The Wildcats won the NSIC South Division during the regular season with an 18-4 conference record.

- Senior forward Jordan Spencer and senior guard Ashton Yossi were both named All-NSIC. Spencer was named to the first team and Yossi was named to the second team. Spencer was also named to the NSIC All-Defensive Team and forward Maggie Schulte was named to the NSIC All-Freshman Team.

- Wayne State ranked first in the NSIC this season in scoring margin as they outscored its opponents by 18.5 points. They also rank first in field goal percentage (45.8 percent), 3-point field goal percentage (37.3 percent) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (29.1 percent).

- The Wildcats rank second in the NSIC in scoring offense (74.9 percent), scoring defense (56.5 points per game) and field goal percentage defense (35.1 percent).

- Wayne State is led on the season by Jordan Spencer who ranks seventh in the NSIC averaging 16.0 points per game. She also ranks sixth in the conference in rebounding, averaging 7.3 per game. Spencer is shooting 52.2 percent from the field which ranks fourth in the NSIC.

- Ashton Yossi ranks first in the NSIC in free throw percentage shooting 92.0 percent. She has attempted 100 and made 92.

- Behind the arc, the Wildcats are led by senior forward Millie Niggeling who is shooting 44.8 percent to rank second in the NSIC. She has made 60 3-pointers this season. Maggie Schulte ranks sixth in the conference, shooting 39.6 percent from behind the arc.

SERIES

- It will be the first meeting between the two teams.