National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

March 3, 1997

Division II

Bisons' run appears unstoppable

Event: 1997 Division II Women's Basketball Championship.

Overview: Does it seem like Kasey Morlock has played 10 years for Amy Ruley's North Dakota State squad? The good news for opponents is that she's a senior -- finally. The bad news is she is having her best season ever. Morlock, a two-time championship most outstanding player, is averaging 20.7 points a game and shooting 57.9 percent from the field. Morlock's supporting cast includes senior Andrea Kelly. The Bison were 24-0 as of mid-February and had a winning streak of 41, dating back to last season ... Southern Indiana (22-1) leads the nation in scoring average at 92.1 points an outing and in scoring margin, holding opponents to just 63.6 points. The Screaming Eagles are doing it with just two players averaging double figures in scoring. Two-time all-American LeeAnn Freeland averages 21.5 points and 6.7 rebounds. Junior forward Eileen Weber averages 15.3 points and 6.0 rebounds a game. Southern Indiana scores off its defense, forcing opponents to turn the ball over more than 27 times a game while recording 15.4 steals each time out ... Shippensburg, runner-up to North Dakota State last year, tops the East region rankings with a 20-4 record. St. Rose, undefeated at 24-0, is ranked first in the Northeast region.

Field: Forty-eight teams. Six qualifiers in each of the eight regions will play to determine the eight quarterfinalists that will advance to the Women's Elite Eight. Twenty-one conferences have been granted automatic qualification. The remaining teams will be selected at large.

Dates and sites: Regional tournaments will be March 6-8 or 7-9 at on-campus sites. The 1997 Women's Elite Eight will be March 19-20 and 22 on the campus of one of the participating teams.

Television coverage: The championship game will air on ESPN2 at 4:30 p.m. (Eastern time) March 22.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1266 for the bracket/schedule, 5064 for quarterfinal results, 5065 for semifinal box scores, 5066 for the third-place game box score and 5067 for championship-game results. Game scores and pairings also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Regional scores will appear in the March 17 issue of The NCAA News. Women's Elite Eight results will be in the March 31 issue.

Championship note: North Dakota State alumnae Jenni Rademacher and Lori Roufs are the only players -- men or women -- to have played on four national-championship teams in basketball.