Warriors Open NAIA Tourney Against Blue Raiders

Westmont women’s basketball, ranked No. 16 in the NAIA, will face No. 17 Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) in the first round of the 2009 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship Wednesday, March 18, at 9:45 p.m. CDT, 7:45 p.m. PST, at Oman Arena in Jackson, Tenn. The game will be the first ever between the Warriors and Blue Raiders women’s basketball teams.

The Warriors (22-8) and the Blue Raiders (24-8) each received at-large berths after losing in their conference tournaments last week. The Warriors earned a No. 4 seed in their tournament bracket, while the Blue Raiders are a No. 5 seed.

Junior guard Amber Stevens, a Dos Pueblos High School graduate, earned all-conference honors after leading the team in both rebounds (6.2 per game) and assists (4.6). She also averages 9.8 points per game. Junior guard Jessica Case leads the Warriors in scoring, averaging 12.2 points per game.

The Blue Raiders’ leading scorer is 6-foot sophomore center Viktoria Krell from Ludwigsburg, Germany. Krell, the Mid-South Conference Player of the Year, averaged 17.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game this season. She recorded 18 double-doubles in 32 games for Lindsey Wilson.

This year’s tournament marks the third straight for the Warriors and the fifth in the program’s 11-year history. Head coach Kirsten Moore, in her fourth year at the helm of the Warriors, brings a record of 74-46 (.617) into the tournament.

The winner of Wednesday night’s contest will take on the victor between No. 1 seed Union of Tennessee (32-1) and eighth-seeded Jarvis Christian of Texas (19-10). The second-round game is scheduled for Tuesday, March 20, at 6:15 p.m. CDT, 3:15 p.m. PST.

Live stats of the Westmont game can be viewed at: NAIA Web Site.