Three GLIAC Teams Make NCAA D-II Women's Basketball Tournament Field.

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BAY CITY, Mich. - Three Teams from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) received bids to the NCAA D-II Women's Basketball Midwest Region Tournament. Michigan Technological University earned the Region's top seed and will host this weekend's tournament.  The Huskies will host the No. seed, Northern Kentucky, on Friday, Mar. 12 at 6:00 p.m. at the SDC Gymnasium in Houghton, Mich.

The University of Findlay earned the No. 5 seed and will play fourth-seeded Wisconsin-Parkside at 8:30 p.m. on Friday.  Northern Michigan University garnered the league's third bid to the Regional tournament, taking the No. 7 seed.  The Wildcats will take on the No. 2 seed, the University of Indianapolis, at 2:30 p.m.

The regional semifinals will take place at 5:00 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 13, while the finals will tipoff at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, Mar. 15.

Ashland Eagles (14-14, 10-12 GLIAC)

Ashland ended its 2009-10 campaign with a 71-50 loss at Northern Michigan in the first-round of the GLIAC tournament. Freshman Daiva Gerbec led the squad with 21 points, four rebounds and three steals. It was the last game for seniors Micki Kuns, Lindsey Gaut and Lacy Romine. Also this past week, Gaut earned a spot on the All-GLIAC South Division first team. Romine was named to the All-GLIAC South Division defensive team. The Eagles ended the season 14-14.

Findlay Oilers (21-8, 15-7 GLIAC)

The Oilers advanced to the semi finals of the GLIAC Tournament for the first time in school history with a 66-62 win over Hillsdale in the opening round before falling 71-64 to Northern Michigan in Houghton, Michigan…In the win over Hillsdale, senior guard Audra Mihalic led the way with 28 points on 7-of-19 shooting while sophomore guard Laura Bardall chipped in 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a pair of steals…Junior forward Megan Sellers had an outstanding game as well, scoring ten points to go along with a career-high 15 rebounds…In the loss to Northern Michigan, Bardall paced the team with 18 points and five rebounds while freshman forward Kayla Brown came off the bench to contribute 12 points, two rebounds and a pair of steals…The Oilers also qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in school history and will enter the event as the fifth seed in the Midwest Region…They will play Wisconsin-Parkside in the opening game.

Grand Valley State Lakers (18-10, 15-7 GLIAC)

GVSU fell in the GLIAC Quarterfinals to visiting Lake Superior State on Tuesday (Mar. 2) by a 61-51 score… on Thursday night, freshman center Alex Stelfox (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) was named the GLIAC Freshman of the Year. She is the third Grand Valley State player to earn the award, as sophomore guard Emma Veach took home the honor last year and the school’s all-time leading scorer, Mary Randall, won the award in 1997. Stelfox leads GVSU in scoring (12.0 ppg.), field goal percentage (.562), and blocked shots (40). She scored in double figures in 21 of 27 regular season games, while her 40 blocked shots are tied for ninth-most in a single season in Laker history. Stelfox’s 40 blocks also helped place her on the North Division All-Defensive Team…Veach (Grand Haven, Mich.) was named to the All-GLIAC North Division First Team after being a second team selection last season. She was the only player not from Michigan Tech to be placed on the North Division First Team, as Veach leads the Lakers in rebounding (5.7 rpg.) and is second on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg.), field goal percentage (.513), assists (108), and steals (48).

Hillsdale Chargers (14-13, 14-8 GLIAC)

The Chargers finished the 2009-10 season with a 14-13 overall record, losing to the University of Findlay, 66-62, in the first round of the GLIAC Tournament on March 2…The Chargers went 0-3 vs. the Oilers this season, but had a 4-2 record against the other three teams that made it to the GLIAC’s final four (Lake Superior State, Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech)…Sophomore guard Chelsea Harrison, despite not being named to any All-GLIAC team, wrote herself into the conference record book, setting a new single-season GLIAC record with 69 3-point field goals made in 2009-10…She finished as the team’s leader in scoring at more than 16 points per game…Seniors Brooke Knight and Janay Miller were each named Second-Team All-GLIAC South Division…Hillsdale has finished either first or second in the South Division for five straight seasons and has six straight winning seasons…Head coach Claudette Charney has guided the team to seven winning seasons in her eight years as Chargers’ head coach.

Lake Superior State Lakers (15-13, 11-11 GLIAC)

With Lake Superior State’s 61-51 GLIAC quarterfinal victory over Grand Valley State, all three Upper Peninsula women’s basketball teams advanced to the GLIAC final four for the fifth time in the 20-year history of the tournament...LSSU made its 13th GLIAC Tournament appearance and is now 12-12 all-time in the event…Laker junior guard Emily Joseph (Sterling Heights, Mich.) was named to the All-GLIAC North Division First Team, while junior guard Ronlea Peterson (Midland, Mich.) was named to the North Division All-Defensive Team…Through three seasons, Joseph has 901 career points and 322 assists. She ranks sixth in career assists with 322 and second in career free-throw percentage (247-303, .815). This season, Joseph’s free-throw percentage of .832 (104-125) ties for seventh on LSSU’s single-season list…Peterson, who led the Lakers in steals with 56, also made 43 three-pointers, which ties for eighth on LSSU’s single-season list…Junior guard Nicole Marshall (Frankfort, Mich.) made two three-pointers at Michigan Tech Friday to finish with a single-season school-record of 55.

Michigan Tech. Huskies (28-2, 20-2 GLIAC)

Michigan Tech won its second GLIAC Tournament title in the last three years with a 73-69 victory over Northern Michigan last Saturday (Mar. 6) … Tech is making in its third consecutive and 15th overall trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies are hosting the Midwest Regional, marking the fourth year they have played home games in the national tournament. Tech is 14-14 all-time in NCAA Tournament games … Katie Wysocky (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) became Michigan Tech’s all-time leading scorer during the second half of Saturday’s GLIAC Tournament Championship. The 6-0 senior forward is now the school’s all-time leader in both points (1,862) and rebounds (1,197) … Senior Sarah Stream (Ishpeming, Mich./Westwood) has moved within one of becoming Tech’s all-time leader in assists. The 5-7 point guard has 115 assists this season and 438 for her career … Tech’s 28 wins are tied for the second-most in school history. The 1992-93 squad holds the record with 30.

Northern Michigan Wildcats (21-9, 16-6 GLIAC)

NMU will play in the NCAA D-II Women’s Midwest Regional against Indianapolis in quarterfinal action Friday (March 12)...The ‘Cats are in the regional tournament for the first time since the 2001-02 season...NMU was given the seventh seed after playing in the GLIAC Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game...NMU has met Indianapolis once in regional play during the 1994-95 season as the ‘Cats won (91-71)...The Wildcats reached the GLIAC championship game by defeating Ashland (71-50), Findlay in the semifinals (71-64) and then lost to Michigan Tech for the GLIAC title (73-69)...For the ‘Cats it was the first time in the championship game since the 1999-00 season...Mariah Dunham and Steffani Stoeger were both named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team...Dunham led the ‘Cats in the GLIAC Tournament by averaging 24.0 ppg and 7.7 rpg...Stoeger was the only other ‘Cat in double-figures for the tournament by averaging 18.3 ppg, she had a game-high 24 points against MTU as she was 6-8 from the three-point line, the six 3-pointers was a career high.

Northwood Timberwolves (13-14, 9-13 GLIAC)

Northwood saw its 2009-10 season come to an end with a 78-52 loss to No. 1 seed Michigan Tech in the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals ... NU ends its injury-plagued season 13-14 overall, the third most wins at the NCAA level in school history ... the Huskies came out on fire and put the game away early, hitting their first five 3-pointers ... three Nortwood players earned GLIAC recognition at the end of the season - senior Jodi Ostergren (Midland, Mich./Dow) and junior Pam Wilson (Grand Blanc, Mich.) each earned First Team All-GLIAC honors, while senior Karlie LeRoy (Saginaw, Mich./Nouvel) was named Second Team All-GLIAC as well as to the All-Defensive team ... Ostergren is the first player in school history to earn All-GLIAC honors three times in a career ... LeRoy is the first player at Northwood to earn All-Defensive Team honors twice in a career, while Wilson becomes the third player in school history to earn First Team All-GLIAC honors (Ostergren, Megan Starnes) ... NU returns 12 of 15 players for the 2010-11 season, including six players who will be taking a medical redshirt.