Michigan Tech Headed to the Elite 8 After Winning the Midwest Region

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BAY CITY, Mich. - Michigan Technological University won the 2011 NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Midwest Region Tournament for the third consecutive year by beating Wisconsin-Parkside 69-57. The Huskies now play Arkansas Tech Universtiy in the National Quarterfinals at 7 pm on Tuesday, March 22 at St. Joseph, Missouri

Grand Valley State Lakers

Grand Valley State fell in the quarterfinals of the Midwest Regional to Drury, 67-60, ending the team’s season with a 20-8 overall record. The Lakers are now 11-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament…sophomore center Alex Stelfox (Bowie, Md.) tied with sophomore forward Briauna Taylor (Livonia, Mich.) as the team’s leading scorer this season, as both second-year players averaged 14.9 points per game, sixth-best in the GLIAC. Stelfox tied her career-high with six blocked shots against Drury, giving her 80 in two seasons at GVSU. She ranks seventh in Laker history in that category and seventh in points per game (13.4), but is second in career field goal percentage (54.6%)…Taylor also was tied for the team’s leading rebounder this year, as she pulled down 6.9 boards per game, knotted with senior Elizabeth Van Tiflin (Saginaw, Mich.). The two were tied for 11th place in the GLIAC in rebounds per game…junior point guard Jasmine Padin (Wyoming, Mich.) led the conference with 64 steals and was second in both assists (137) and assist to turnover ratio (1.9). Her 137 assists ties her for sixth-most in a single season in school history, while her 378 career assists places her fifth in Grand Valley State history. Padin also owns the second-highest career free throw percentage (80.2%) and is third at GVSU all-time with 175 made three-pointers…the Lakers lose just one player to graduation – Van Tiflin – in looking towards next year. Van Tiflin finished her solid four-year career with a 74-40 record and a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament. She was named to the All-GLIAC North Division Defensive Team both this year and in 2008-09 and Van Tiflin started in 89 of the 113 games she played as a Laker. She is ninth all-time in games played at GVSU. Van Tiflin finished her career with 594 rebounds, 458 points, and 92 three-pointers.

Michigan Tech Huskies

Michigan Tech became the first team to win three straight NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Midwest Regional titles with a 69-57 victory over Wisconsin-Parkside at the SDC Gym. The Huskies received double digit scoring efforts from four different players to improve to 29-2 overall and advance to next week's Elite Eight...Tech led by as many 17 points in the contest, but held off a late Ranger run to come away victorious...Michigan Tech led by 14 with less than nine minutes to play before UWP (24-7) scored eight straight points to close within 57-51 at the five-minute mark. Lisa Staehlin then went to work in the post, making a nice move for a layup to push the margin back to eight...Jadee Rooney hit a layup after an offensive rebound on the next trip down the floor to cut it down to six again. The Huskies proceeded to go 10-of-12 from the free throw line with no turnovers in the final four minutes. Tech also turned up the defensive intensity in holding the Rangers to just one field goal on their final seven attempts...Tech used its lethal one-two punch in the post, with a team-high 17 points coming from Staehlin and 12 more from Lynn Giesler. Both players made the all-tournament team. Staehlin was 8-of-8 from the field while Giesler went 6-of-11 to help the Huskies outscore UWP 32-26 in the paint...Lucy Dernovsek had another superb all-around game with 13 points, eight rebounds and three each in the categories of assists, blocks and steals. She was the third Huskies player named to the all-tournament team. She also became Tech's single-season blocks leader during the contest (66)...Rooney tallied a game-high 20 points for the Rangers. She and Quincy senior Courtney Shuman were the other two players named to the all-tournament team....Michigan Tech built upon several streaks it had coming into the game. The Huskies have now won a school-record-tying 16 straight games overall, 32 consecutive home games and nine straight Midwest Regional games...Tech will advance to the Elite Eight in St. Joseph, Mo., next week (Mar. 22-25) and play South Region Champion Arkansas Tech (30-2) in the national quarterfinal. The game is set for Tuesday (Mar. 22) at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT.