Women's Basketball 3/14/2019 9:23:00 AM Jordan Alves

No. 1-seeded Lady Tigers open NAIA Tournament with Providence on Thursday at 4:15 p.m. ET

BILLINGS, Mont. — Run for NAIA Women's Basketball Championship No. 1 starts today as Lady Tiger basketball plays the University of Providence in the first round of the national tournament.

Tipoff is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET at the RimRock Auto Arena but could always run a little late during tournament time. Voice of Lady Tiger Basketball will have the broadcast on 88.7 The Tiger and the Campbellsville University Sports Network.

In addition, the NAIA Network – the association's official video streaming home – will broadcast the first 30 games leading up to the championship final on ESPN3. The video platform, powered by Stretch Internet, allows users access to live video, statistics, and social interaction on a number of devices, including mobile. Single day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while an all-tournament package is available at $34.95.

Campbellsville enters at the No. 2-overall seed in the tournament and boast a 31-2 record on the season – which is the fifth 30-win season in Ginger High Colvin's career. The Lady Tigers are coming off their sixth Mid-South Conference Tournament title after running through the MSC with a perfect 14-0 record in the regular season and 3-0 in tournament play.

Providence, out of the Frontier Conference, brings in an 18-13 record and lost in the first round of the conference tournament to Lewis-Clark State College, 71-57.

Series Facts:

First meeting

All you need to know about Providence:

During the 2019 NAIA Tournament run, the Argos have captured a No. 8-seed in the Liston Bracket, following a dominant 11-1 non-conference schedule, which included wins over No. 8 Westmont, No. 14 The Master's, and No. 22 Arizona Christian.
The Argos fell short in conference play as they finished 7-11 against Frontier opponents, but four of their seven conference victories were over ranked opponents in No. 4 Montana Western, No. 8 Carroll, No. 21 Rocky Mountain, and No. 17 Lewis-Clark.
The Argos are led by Emilee Maldonado's 15.9 points per game after being the only player to start at 31 games for head coach Bill Himmelberg.
Himmerlberg is in his eighth season and led the Argos to back-to-back quarterfinal appearances in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
His 148 wins are the most in program history for Providence women's basketball but the Argos have only finished higher than fourth in the Frontier Conference regular season once – 2015-16.
The post presence is led by Parker Esary. She averages just south of 10 rebounds per game and just over 13 points per contest. Esary also is very efficient by hitting 56 percent of her shots to rank No. 8 in the NAIA.
The shooter is Jenna Randich. She's hit 46 percent from 3-point land this season, while Kerstyn Pimperton is hitting 41 percent.
The Argos rank third in defensive rebounding with 31 defensive boards per game and their 9.7 rebounding margin is seventh in the NAIA.

Lady Tigers depth will play into their favor:

Arguably one of the best all-around teams in program history, the Lady Tigers score at a 86.1 clip per night and are one of the best defensive team in the country.
CU ranks in the Top 20 in 17 different statistical categories, while Caitlin Hall and Savannah Gregory lead the way individually in the NAIA rankings.
Hall ranks No. 1 in the country with 228 assists, and 6.9 assists per game.
Gregory is second with 132 steals and fourth in steals per game with 4.0.
Scoring and rebounding has been Madison Faulkner's forte this season. She scored 13.2 points per game and grabs 6.1 boards a game to lead CU.
Gregory is right behind her in the scoring category with 12 points a night, while Jordan Doram comes off the bench to score almost 12 points and is hitting 62 percent from the floor.
CU also has Madison Kaiser scoring 10.7 points per game and WBCA All-America Honorable Mention Madison Stewart at 10.5 points a contest.
The Lady Tigers are one of the deepest teams in the country with nine players averaging double figure minutes each game and two more averaging just over nine minutes.

NAIA Tournament History for CU:

Campbellsville is making its 27th NAIA Championships appearance - an NAIA record.
Overall in the tournament, CU holds a 29-26 record.
CU is making its 11th-straight trip to the NAIA Tourney, the longest run in program history.
CU made its first appearance in 1983 in Kansas City, but qualified for the inaugural NAIA Invitational in 1981 after beating Kentucky State University in the Kentucky Women's Intercollegiate Conference (KWIC) Championship.
The Lady Tigers opted to compete instead in the longer-established Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Championships. Kentucky State went on to win the first NAIA Championship in 1981.
NAIA Hall of Fame head coach Donna Wise collected 661 wins and five NAIA quarter final appearances for CU in 32 seasons until her retirement in 2007. She was 13-16 in the NAIA Tournament.
Ginger Colvin, CU's second head coach, has taken CU to six NAIA quarterfinals, two fab fours and the title game in 2014-15, and is 17-10 in the NAIA Championships.
Two-time NAIA Player of the Year Whitney Ballinger holds the program's postseason records for most points in a game (48 vs. Oklahoma City, 2010), points in a tournament (71, 2010), points in a career (145, 2010-2011), field goals made in a game (18 vs. Oklahoma City, 2010), field goals made in a tournament (30, 2010).
Ginger High Colvin holds CU's record for most assists in an NAIA Tournament game with eight against unbeaten St. Ambrose University in 1990. She also scored 35 points in the game, the second-most by a CU player in the NAIA Tournament.

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Players Mentioned

#14 Jordan Doram: F; 5' 11"; Senior; Georgetown, Ky.

#40 Madison Faulkner: F; 5' 8"; Junior; Horse Cave, Ky.

#13 Savannah Gregory: G; 5' 8"; Redshirt Sophomore; Scottsville, Ky.

#20 Caitlin Hall: G; 5' 5"; Junior; Stanford, Ky.

#30 Madison Kaiser: G/F; 5' 9"; Senior; Greenville, Ind.

#23 Madison Stewart: G; 5' 9"; Senior; Leitchfield, Ky.

Players Mentioned

#14 Jordan Doram
: 5' 11"; Senior; Georgetown, Ky.
: F

#40 Madison Faulkner
: 5' 8"; Junior; Horse Cave, Ky.
: F

#13 Savannah Gregory
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Sophomore; Scottsville, Ky.
: G

#20 Caitlin Hall
: 5' 5"; Junior; Stanford, Ky.
: G

#30 Madison Kaiser
: 5' 9"; Senior; Greenville, Ind.
: G/F

#23 Madison Stewart
: 5' 9"; Senior; Leitchfield, Ky.
: G