Pittsburg State women to face Grand Valley State in Division II quarterfinals

The Pittsburg State women’s basketball team, after reaching the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the second time in five seasons, will play Grand Valley State at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The Gorillas, 29-5, are led by 5-foot-7 sophomore guard Mikaela Burgess, who averages 18 points per game, and 6-1 senior forward Cathy Brugman, who averaged 24 points in Pitt State’s three regional victories. The Gorillas have won 18 of 19 with the only loss coming to Emporia State in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association championship game. They avenged that loss 78-74 in the South Central Regional championship in Pittsburg, advancing to the national quarterfinals.

Grand Valley State, 25-9, is making its third Elite Eight appearance. The Lakers, the No. 7 seed in the Midwest Regional, won three games as the lower-seeded team to reach Sioux Falls and are led by 5-4 junior guard Janae Langs, who scored 16, 10 and 20 points in Grand Valley’s three victories.

The winner advances to the national semifinals on Wednesday. The NCAA Division II women’s championship game is April 4 in Indianapolis, one day before the Division I women’s crown is decided.

▪ Johnson County Community College women’s basketball coach Ben Conrad was chosen national coach of the year and sophomore guard Erica Nelson of Lee’s Summit North received first-team All-America honors from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. Conrad will be presented with the Pat Summitt Trophy on April 5 in Indianapolis. Nelson, one of 10 players on the first team, led the Cavaliers in scoring at 16.6 points per game. Johnson County started 31-0 before losing to eventual NJCAA Division II champion Kansas City Kansas in the postseason.

▪ Two MIAA women’s players received honorable mention on the Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-America team: conference player of the year LaQuinta Jefferson of Missouri Western and Emporia State’s Kelly Moten. Missouri Southern’s Taevaunn Prince earned men’s first-team All-America honors. Northwest Missouri’s Justin Pitts received honorable mention.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Pittsburg State women to face Grand Valley State in Division II quarterfinals."