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Lady Crusaders vs. Lee University in 1st round of NAIA-I Championship Tourney
March 16, 2009
Contact: Evangel University Athletics 865-2815, Ext. 7282
Thursday’s Game
Evangel faces 5th ranked Lee University in the first round of the NAIA Division I Women’s National Championship Tournament. The Lady Crusaders are seeded 7th in their 8-team bracket. Lee University is seeded 2nd and ranked 5th in the nation.
The national tournament is comprised of four 8-team brackets with all 32 teams competing at Oman Arena in Jackson, Tennessee.
The Coaches
Leon Neal (Evangel ’89) is in his 16th season as head coach of the Lady Crusaders and brings a 327-170 career record into tonight’s game. Neal has led Evangel to two NAIA-II Final Fours (1996 and 2005). He was named the HAAC Coach of the Year for this season. Marty Rowe (Murray State ‘88) is in fifth season as head coach of the Lady Flames. He is 138-31 at Lee and is 269-98 in his coaching career. Rowe was previously at Brescia (Ky.) University prior to coming to the Lady Flames. He was the WBCA NAIA Coach of the Year in 2006.
Last Game
Evangel lost to William Jewell on March 6 in the semifinals of the Heart of America conference tournament 65-59 at the Ashcroft Center. The Lady Crusaders led 29-25 at the half, but were outscored 40-30 in the second half. Brianna Mingus scored a season high 28 points and Tag Morris put up 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Lee University won the Southern State Athletic Conference tournament championship with a 77-63 win overa Berry College at Rome, Georgia on March 7. Katie Nelson had 20 points to lead all scorers while Brooke McKinnon added 19 and 9 rebounds. The game was tied 27-27 at the half, but the Lady Flames pulled away with a 50-36 second half.
Mingus Milestones
Brianna Mingus broke the 1,000 point mark in her last game on March 6 against William Jewell. The junior has scored 1,025 career points and is the 19th player in Evangel history to pass the milestone. Stephanie Lansdown (2002-06) was the last Evangel player to enter the 1,000 point club. Mingus now ranks 17th all-time in scoring (13 points behind Lansdown).
Mingus also ranks fifth all-time in 3-pointers made with 164.
Morris’ Season Milestone
Tag Morris has pulled down 258 rebounds on the season and March 6 became the 20th player in Evangel history to pull down 250 rebounds in a single season. Tasha Neal was the last player to accomplish the feat for Evangel in 2001-02.
Here Despite Injuries
The Lady Crusaders managed to advance to the national tournament despite a number of injuries that have depleted their roster. Kelsie Hargus (knee) - out since Jan. 17…will not play
Caitlin Russell (knee) - out since Jan. 11…will not play
Melissa Hogan (concussion) – out since Nov. 5…will not play
Whitney Pollard (knee) – injured Feb. 16…has missed 3 games… questionable for tournament.
Winning When You Are Supposed To
Evangel went 10-0 against teams that were below .500. 21 of Evangel’s 31 games were against opponents with winning records, including two NCAA-II opponents.
Evangel NAIA Tournament History
Evangel has an all-time NAIA Tournament record of 12-7.
All-Time Results:
1993-94: 2nd round
W Hastings (Neb.) 69-61
L Lewis & Clark (Ore.) 59-58
1995-96: Final Four
W Judson (Ill.) 65-43
W Bethany (Kan.) 76-53
W Black Hills St. (S.D.) 77-60
L Western Oregon 65-59
2000-01: First Round
L Peru St. (Neb.) 62-54
2001-02: Second Round
W Montreat (N.C.) 87-46
L Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 59-51
2002-03: Quarterfinals
W Dakota State (S.D.) 54-45
W Sterling (Kan.) 56-53
L Hastings (Neb.) 68-55
2003-04: Quarterfinals
W Dickinson St. (N.D.) 54-52
W Holy Names (Calif.) 64-61
L Morningside (Iowa) 66-43
2004-05: Final Four
W Roberts Wesleyan (NY) 54-38
W Doane (Neb.) 66-51
W Indiana Wesleyan 56-46
L Morningside (Iowa) 57-45
Evangel Completes Seventh Regular Season Championship
Evangel has won their seventh regular season championship Feb. 28 with the victory over Avila. Evangel has won the conference outright six times and has been co-champion once. The title is the Lady Crusaders first since 2004-05
| Rank | Team | Conference Wins |
Conference Loses |
Total Wins |
Total Loses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evangel-z | 17 | 3 | 21 | 10 |
| 2 | Bendctn-x | 16 | 4 | 23 | 10 |
| 3 | Avila-x | 15 | 5 | 24 | 7 |
| Will. Jwl-y | 15 | 5 | 24 | 9 | |
| 5 | MidAm Naz-x | 14 | 6 | 20 | 11 |
| 6 | Baker-x | 9 | 11 | 15 | 16 |
| Lindnwd-x | 9 | 11 | 14 | 16 | |
| 8 | C. Mthdst-x | 7 | 13 | 10 | 20 |
| 9 | Graceland | 3 | 17 | 5 | 20 |
| Mo. Valley | 3 | 17 | 4 | 27 | |
| 11 | Culver-St. | 2 | 18 | 5 | 22 |
z- clinched conference regular season championship
y-clinched second place in conf.
x- clinched conference tournament berth
HAAC Tournament
Quarterfinals
Evangel 62 Central Methodist 57
William Jewell 75 MidAm Naz. 70
Benedictine 92 Lindenwood 59
Avila 65 Baker 62
Semifinals
William Jewell 65 Evangel 59
Benedictine 66 Avila 47
Championship
William Jewell 74 Benedictine 65
Conference Honors
Five Lady Crusaders were honored by the league as All-Conference selections.
Ashlee Luko- 1st Team All-HAAC
Kara Blankenship- 3rd Team All-HAAC
Brianna Mingus- 3rd Team All-HAAC
Whitney Pollard- Honorable Mention All-HAAC
Tag Morris- Honorable Mention All-HAAC
Head Coach Leon Neal- HAAC Coach of the Year
Bracket Breakdown
Oklahoma Baptist is the #1 seed in Evangel’s 8-team bracket. The road to the Final Four must go through the following teams, listed by their seeding 1 through 8:
#1 Oklahoma Baptist (29-4)
#2 Lee (28-5)
#3 Trevecca Nazarene (25-7)
#4 Campbellsville (26-6)
#5 Columbia (Mo.) (28-4)
#6 Biola (19-11)
#7 Lady Crusaders (21-10)
#8 LSU-Shreveport (27-5)
The #1 ranked team nationally is Union University. Union is the top seed in their bracket, the winner of which would face the winner of Evangel’s bracket in the national semifinals.
Round Two Friday
The winner of Evangel and Lee first round game will face the winner of the Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) – Biola (Calif.) game. That game follows the Lady Crusaders match-up with Lee and scheduled for a 2:15 p.m. tip-off Thursday.
Tournament Schedule
Should Evangel advance through round one, their next game would by Friday at 2:15 p.m. Here is the potential tournament schedule based on where Evangel is on the bracket:
First Round: vs. Lee, Thur., 12:30pm
Second Round: Friday, 2:15 p.m.
Quarterfinals: Saturday: 4:00 p.m.
Semifinals: Mon., March 23: 6:00pm
Finals: Tue., March 24: 7:00 p.m.
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