GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE vs. DRURY -- Friday, March 8, 2019, 6 p.m.
Vadalabene Center -- Edwardsville, Ill.
2019 Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Quarterfinals
WATCH LIVE (GLVC Sports Network)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
DRURY SEASON STATISTICS
GLVC STATISTICS
GLVC TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
GLVC TOURNAMENT BRACKET
(LEBANON, Ill., March 6)—The McKendree University women's basketball team will be one of eight teams in action Friday night as part of the field for the 2019 Great Lakes Valley Conference Women's Basketball Tournament. The GLVC men's and women's tournaments are being held for the second straight year at the Vadalabene Center on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in Edwardsville, Ill.
McKendree will take on Drury University – the GLVC Tournament's top seed and the No. 1-ranked team in NCAA Division II – in the third of four tournament quarterfinal games on Friday at 6 p.m.
The Bearcats will be making their second straight appearance – and third in the last four years – in the GLVC Tournament. This is the first time since the 2010 and 2011 seasons that McKendree will be playing post-season basketball in consecutive seasons. The Bearcats went 13-14 during the 2018-19 regular season and posted a 7-11 mark in conference play. McKendree earned the No. 8 seed through the GLVC Point Rating System Rankings, which was used to determine the eight teams that comprised the tournament field.
Entering the GLVC Tournament, McKendree is averaging 66.1 points per game while giving up 64.9 PPG. The Bearcats are one of just five league schools allowing under 65 points per outing. McKendree is third in the GLVC in three-point field goal defense, allowing its foes 30.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc. The Bearcats are also fourth in the conference in both rebounding defense (33.6 RPG) and rebounding margin (+4.0 RPG).
Sydney Diekhoff (Pekin, IL/Pekin Community) is the Bearcats' leading scorer at 15 points per game. She has moved up to sixth in the GLVC in scoring. Diekhoff ranks in the top 40 among all NCAA Division II players in free throw percentage, hitting 84.7 percent of her tries from the line.
Jordan Heberg (Romeoville, IL/Plainfield North) is the only other McKendree player averaging in double figures at 10.8 PPG.
Jordan Morton (Olathe, Kan./Olathe South) is the Bearcats' top rebounder at 7.3 RPG and also leads the squad in field goal percentage at 53.9 percent. In addition, Morton is tied with Diekhoff this season with 41 steals.
Megan Jensen (Union, MO/Saint Francis Borgia Regional), who is scoring 9.6 PPG, is right behind Morton in field goal percentage at 53.8 percent.
Callie Pohlman (Appleton, WI/Appleton North) has set a new McKendree NCAA Division II era mark with 96 assists through the Bearcats' first 27 games.
The semifinal round of the 2019 GLVC Tournament will be held Saturday with the women's championship game slated for 3:30 p.m. CT on Sunday. The tournament champion earns the league's automatic bid into the field for the NCAA Division II Tournament.
ABOUT DRURY
The Panthers have rolled through the regular season, posting a perfect 28-0 overall record and an 18-0 mark in GLVC play. Drury took over the top spot in the national rankings in late January and has maintained its grip on the No. 1 spot entering post-season play.
As a team, Drury leads the GLVC in several statistical categories, including scoring offense (85.3 PPG), scoring defense (55.2 PPG), scoring margin (+30.1 PPG), assists (21.9 APG) and steals (17.8 SPG). Individually, the Panthers are led by Hailey Diestelkamp, who is second in the conference in scoring at 21 PPG. Diestelkamp also tops the team in rebounding at 8.9 RPG and is second in steals with 94. Paige Robinson (15.3 PPG) and Payton Richards (10.8 PPG) are the other Panther players scoring in double figures. Daejah Bernard leads all GLVC players with 174 assists and 107 steals.
McKendree and Drury met once during the regular season back on Jan. 17 in Lebanon. The Panthers registered a 72-55 victory over the Bearcats. Heberg paced McKendree with 13 points while Diekhoff notched 11 points.
Haley Zylka (Oak Creek, WI/Oak Creek) pulled down a season-high seven rebounds for the Bearcats. Robinson dropped in a game-high 19 points to show the way for Drury, while Diestelkamp added 13 points and eight rebounds.
