CANYON, Texas – For the second consecutive year, the St. Mary's Rattlers are in the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament.
This Friday, the Rattlers will take on the Colorado State Pueblo ThunderWolves in a four versus five seed matchup.
Chance at redemption
The last time St. Mary's took the court was at the finals of the Heartland Conference Tournament when the Rattlers fell to their rivals from St. Edward's, 83-71, in overtime.
An impressive 30 points from
Jackie Woods (Sr., San Antonio) was not enough as St. Edward's outscored the Rattlers 16-4 in the extra period.
For their tremendous play in the tournament which mirrored their play all season, Woods and
Dezirae Elias (So., Chandler, Ariz.) were named to the Heartland Conference All-Tournament Team.
With a 19-9 record, St. Mary's was able to nab the No. 5 seed in the tournament, the highest seed of any Heartland Conference team as St. Edward's entered as the No. 8 seed and Texas A&M International as the No. 6 seed.
This season, the Rattlers are 5-3 in games following a loss. They will look to bounce back again Friday against the ThunderWolves.
Regional History
St. Mary's Women's Basketball enters the South Central Regional for the eighth time in the program's history and fifth time under head coach
Jason Martens.
The Rattlers have advanced past the opening round just once, when they advanced to the second round of the tournament their first season in the regional in 2001-02.
The 2013-14 StMU squad will look to be the second team to advance into the second round of the tournament.
Who are the ThunderWolves?
The Colorado State Pueblo ThunderWolves enter as the No. 4 seed in the regional tournament with a 22-8 record.
This is the Pack's highest seed entering the NCAA Division II tourney in school history. Last time they were in the tournament, the Thunderwolves entered as the five seed in 2012.
CSU-Pueblo averaged 64.7 points per game this season while allowing only 60.2 points to their opponents. They will be playing a Rattler team that scored 69.4 per game this season.
While playing in neutral site games, the Pack are 1-3 this season, noting that their game against StMU will be at a neutral location.
Players to Watch
St. Mary's
Morgan Pullins (Jr., Franklin, Mich.) has done most of her work in the post this season. She is second in scoring and rebounds for the Rattlers averaging 14.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
For CSU-Pueblo, senior Paige Ramm has showed her veteran savvy throughout the season, averaging 12.1 points per game in addition to 4.4 rebounds.
Tournament Coverage
The Rattlers will take on the Thunderwolves this Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Canyon, Texas. For more coverage on St. Mary's postseason run, check back with RattlerAthletics.com throughout the tournament.
