Westmont College Warriors

By Ron Smith
March 7, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Women's Basketball (22-6) has received one of four number one seeds in the 2018 NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship that begins next week. All 31 games of the 32-team tournament will be played at the Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark in Billings, Montana.
 
The Warriors will take on the Phoenix of Cumberland University in Tennessee (20-11) in the first-round game on Thursday, March 15. Tip-off is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. MDT/9:45 a.m. PDT. This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
 
Cumberland is a part of the Mid-South Conference that qualified four teams for the national championship. Shawnee State of Ohio (30-3) and Campbellsville of Kentucky (28-5) each received a number one seed in their respective quadrants of the bracket. Lindsey Wilson of Kentucky (25-7) is a number three seed. The Phoenix finished fourth in the MSC with a conference record of 8-6. All six losses were to the higher ranked teams.
 
The Phoenix lost three times to Shawnee State, twice in the regular season by scores of 57-53 and 53-39 and in the semifinals of the MSC Tournament by a score of 70-63. Westmont played Shawnee State as part of the Rotary Classic in Jackson, Tenn. on November 25 and fell by a score of 63-48.
 
The only other common opponent between Cumberland and Westmont was Vanguard. The Phoenix and Lions also played at the Rotary Classic with Vanguard prevailing 58-45. Westmont won two out of three against Vanguard this year posting a 73-38 win in January, falling 44-40 in February and defeating Vanguard in the GSAC Tournament championship game on Monday by a score of 48-46.
 
Three players are averaging over 10 points per game for the Phoenix. Junior guard Ant'Treaia Patton is averaging 10.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Junior forward Kyra Tucker has posted 10.6 points per game and pulls down 2.6 rebounds. Senior guard Micah Morris is scoring 10.2 points and 4.3 boards per game.
 
The other two starters are senior Kaitlin Oliver who averages 7.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game and senior guard Janisha Lindsey who scores 4.5 points per game and has dished off 5.0 assists per game. Lindsey, Norris, Patton and Tucker were all named to the All-MSC Second Team.
 
As a team, Cumberland averages 59.8 points per game while allowing their opponents an average of 56.6.
 
The Phoenix are led by head coach Jeremy Lewis who is in his ninth year at the helm of his alma mater's women's basketball program. Lewis' record at Cumberland is 150-115 (.566). In 2013 - the year Westmont won the NAIA National Championship - Cumberland finished 33-3 and reached the semifinals of the national tournament before falling to Lee (Tenn.) 43-41.
 
The winner of Thursday's semifinal will advance to take on the winner between fourth-seeded Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) (23-9) and fifth-seeded Loyola (La.) (25-5). That second round game will be played on Thursday, March 16 at 4:30 p.m. MDT/3:30 p.m. PDT.
 
The Warriors are one of five teams from the Golden State Athletic Conference in the 2018 championship field. Vanguard (22-5) received a number two seed and will take on seventh-seeded Bethel in the first round. Menlo (21-8) was given a number six seed and will face third-seeded Louisiana State Shreveport. Arizona Christian was tagged with a number seven seed and will face second-seeded Central Methodist (Mo.). The Master's was given a number eight seed and will take on Freed-Hardeman who is a number one seed.
 
The GSAC and the Heart of America Conferences are each sending five teams to the national championship, the most of any of the conferences.
 
This marks Westmont's 13th appearance in the NAIA National Championship. The Warriors have qualified for the tournament in each of the last seven years and 10 out of the last 11 years. Westmont has a record of 14-11 in national championship play.