THE NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT
Maryville (19-11 overall) will face Midwest Region host and No. 2 ranked Ashland Friday, March 9, to open the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Saints, who earned an automatic bid by winning the 2012 SCHEELS Great Lakes Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament, tip-off against the Eagles at 6 p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (CT) at Kates Gymnasium in Ashland, Ohio. The winner will advance to face the Northern Kentucky-Quincy survivor Saturday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m. (ET). The regional title game is Monday, March 12, at 7 p.m. (ET).
 
Here is the Official NCAA Tournament Link:
http://goashlandeagles.com/sports/wbkb/2011-12/ncaaregional/tournamentpage

ABOUT ASHLAND
The Eagles are 28-1 overall, were 16-0 in GLIAC and have won 28 straight games. Kari Daugherty averages a double-double at 20.6 ppg and leads the nation in rebounding 13.7 rpg while shooting 50.3 percent from the field. Jena Stutzman adds 14.0 ppg and has hit 80 3-pointers, while Alyssa Miller has handed out 152 assists. The Eagles average 77.4 ppg while giving up just 58.4. Ashland is the only team ahead of the Saints in free throw shooting and top the country at 82.2 percent.
 
MORE ON MARYVILLE
Junior forward Abby Duethman leads the way with 15.7 ppg and 8.7 rpg. She is shooting 50.2 percent from the field and is second on the team with 67 assists. Duethman ranks 18th in the country in double-doubles with 11. Freshman guard Shelby Miller is second on the roster with 13.1 ppg and has hit 50 3-pointers to go along with 56 steals. Sophomore guard JoAnn Thompson leads the team with 80 assists and 69 steals.
 
HOMECOMING IN OHIO
The NCAA Tournament games at Ashland will be a homecoming for two Saints. Samantha Robison is from Lima, Ohio, while JoAnn Thompson hails from Van Wert, Ohio.
 
LISTEN IN
Tune in on-line to hear the call of the games by the Voice of the Saints J.B. Connoley at:
www.maryvillesaintsonline.com.
 
RECAPPING THE GLVC TOURNAMENT
The Saints entered the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament as the No. 6 seed and won four games to claim the school’s first GLVC title. Maryville defeated UMSL 75-61 at home, downed No. 25 Northern Kentucky 80-70, edged top-seeded Quincy 70-66 and beat Kentucky Wesleyan 75-62 for the title. Shelby Miller was named Tournament MVP, while Abby Duethman and Rita Flynn were selected to the All-Tournament team.
 
THE BIG 3-0
Freshman Shelby Miller’s 34 points against Northern Kentucky are the fourth-highest single-game total in Maryville history. She is the first Maryville player to score at least 30 points in a contest since Lyndsey Bell tallied 35 against Principia Jan. 23, 2003.
 
THAT IS WHY THEY ARE FREE
Maryville is shooting 78.2 percent (442-of-565) from the charity stripe to rank second in the country (as of March 5). Shelby Miller leads the GLVC and ranks fifth nationally at 88.9 percent (96-of-108), while Abby Duethman is converting at 83.9 percent (99-of-118) at the stripe.
 
FRESHMAN RECORDS
Shelby Miller has set the Maryville record for points by a freshman with 394. In addition, Miller has broken the freshman school record for 3-pointers with 50.
 
CLIMBING THE CAREER SCORING CHART
Junior Abby Duethman hit a 3-pointer late in the Missouri S&T game to surpass the 1,000-point milestone for her career. She sits in third place on Maryville’s all-time scoring list with 1,126 points. Ahead of her in second place is Maureen Walterbach who tallied 1,162 points.
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This is Maryville’s sixth NCAA Tournament appearance but first as a member of Division II. The Saints qualified for the NCAA Tourney five times while playing in Division III, the last occurring in 2009.