Washburn
set to tip off at Elite Eight at St. Joseph Civic Center
March 18, 2003
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The Washburn Lady Blues defeated
Drury University 87-71 in the South Central Regional finals to earn
a berth to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight March 26-29 in St. Joseph,
Mo. The Lady Blues will open with Northern Kentucky 3 p.m. March 26
in the St. Joseph Civic Arena. Washburn will be making its third appearance
into the Elite Eight and first since the 1992-93 season.
The Lady Blues opened the national tournament with a 67-56 win over Midwestern State in the regional quarterfinals behind Crystal Walker's 31 points, before beating Emporia State 66-60 in the regional semifinals. Walker was the South Central Regional tournament's Most Valuable Player. Washburn's Carissa Goeglein and Kristy Chapman were named to the all-tournament team.
Washburn, now 30-3 overall, was the MIAA regular season champion and Sonic MIAA Tournament champion. The Lady Blues are riding a 14-game winning streak and are the first MIAA team to reach the Elite Eight since Emporia State in 1999-2000.
Tournament passes are $30 for Premium Seating and $25 for General Admission Seating. Day Passes for the quarterfinals are $25 for Premium Seating and $20 for General Admission Seating, while Day Passes for the semifinals are $15 for Premium Seating and $12 for General Admission Seating. Tickets for the championship game are $12 for Premium Seating and $10 for General Seating. All Day Passes are walk-up only and are based on availability.
Complete tournament information can be found on the Web at http://www.gogriffons.com/elite8/
Quarterfinals Wednesday
March 26
1 p.m. • California
(Pa.) (31-1) vs. North
Florida (20-11)
3 p.m. • Washburn
(30-3) vs. Northern
Kentucky (24-7)
6 p.m. • Central
Arkansas (28-6) vs. Bentley
(32-2)
8 p.m. South
Dakota State (29-3) vs. Cal-State-Bakersfield
(29-1)
Quarterfinals Thursday
March 27
6 p.m. • CUP-UNF winner vs. WU-NKU winner
8 p.m. • UCA-BC winner vs. SDSU-CSUB winner
Championship Saturday March 29
5 p.m. Semifinal winners
