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Arizona Christian University

OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE OF ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
WBB NAIA First Round Preview

Women's Basketball Payne Moses

NAIA First Round Preview: Firestorm Engage Eagles

Glendale, Ariz. - Arizona Christian punched their ticket to the 2024 NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship via an at-large bid unveiled in the Selection Show this past Thursday. The Firestorm were placed in the Naismith Quadrant as the 10-seed and will play 7-seed Reinhardt (GA) this Friday from Great Falls, Montana. Rusty Rogers qualified for his first national championship as the Firestorm's head coach and ninth all-time in his storied NAIA career. 

Two-seed Providence (MT), Frontier Conference Tournament champion, acts as the host and will face 15-seed Eastern Oregon in their First Round matchup. On Saturday night, the two game winners will then compete for a spot in the Round of 16 and Tyson Events Center (this year's final championship site in Sioux City, Iowa).

ACU is set to make their third all-time appearance in the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship and first since Odell Berry led the Firestorm to back-to-back appearances in 2018 and 2019. A First-Round victory would be historic, as the program is 0-2 entering Friday.

Without even playing Friday's game, the Firestorm have pieced together one of the best seasons in program history. Standout marks include 2227 total points (third all-time), 229 three-point field goals made (second all-time) and 426 total assists (second all-time). Sophomore Emily Till already established the program's single season record for rebounds (277) and is second in rebounds per game (10.7). Alyssa Alvarez occupies third on the list for three-pointers made in a single season (69) and Graciela Roybal is eighth in three-point percentage (39.1).

Of the five GSAC teams that earned a bid into the national tournament, Arizona Christian is first in scoring (74.2 PPG), third in opposing field goal percentage (38.1), third in three-point percentage (33.2) and second in combined team rebounds per game (42.3).

Game Details

Arizona Christian vs. Reinhardt (GA) - Friday, March 15 at 7:00 PM

McLaughlin Center Gymnasium - Great Falls, MT

*All Times Listed Are Arizona Time

Live Coverage

Video - https://www.youtube.com/@universityofprovidenceargo2651 
Live Stats - https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/boxscores/20240315_3it8.xml 

Arizona Christian

The Lady Firestorm were operating like a well-oiled machine through the first half, but ran out of gas and ultimately fell 75-64 to the #1-seed Vanguard in the GSAC Women's Basketball Semifinals at Menlo College. ACU outscored the Lions by six in the second quarter to grab a one-point lead (41-40) but poor shooting late (8-of-31 second half) saw the Firestorm playing catch-up for the final 15 minutes. 

Kayla Clark matched her season high of 12 points in the contest, shooting an efficient 3-of-4 from the field while dishing out three assists and only coughing up the ball once. Graciela Roybal added 12 points of her own, nailing all four of her three-pointers in the first half.

The Firestorm's leading rebounder Emily Till had 10 points and seven boards, notching her 14th game scoring double digit points. Lauren Gunn and Halle Payne made significant contributions, combining for 17 points and seven assists.

All-GSAC selection Alyssa Alvarez was uncharacteristically cold offensively, off-target on her first nine shot attempts before converting a three-ball in the fourth quarter. She was, however, very active on the glass (six rebounds) and as a facilitator (four assists).

ACU assisted on 17 of 22 made-baskets but lost the rebound battle 42-32 (margin decided in the second half). The Lions have now won the last five meetings in this series.

ACU Key Players

Alyssa Alvarez - 18.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 2.5 APG
Lauren Gunn - 13.1 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 3.0 APG 
Halle Payne - 11.6 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.6 APG
Graciela Roybal - 10.7 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1.1 APG
Emily Till - 9.2 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 1.8 APG
Kayla Clark - 4.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 2.7 APG

Series Notes

Friday night will be the first all-time meeting between the Firestorm and Eagles.

Coach Rusty Rogers' Thoughts

"We are really looking forward to representing ACU in the NAIA National Tournament and are feeling pretty good about our place in the bracket," Coach Rogers said. "Reinhardt presents some definite challenges for us. They obviously know what it takes to win by virtue of their 26-3 record and they have plenty of talent on their roster. We feel like the GSAC has prepared us well for this moment and if we can get our team healthy in time for Friday, we got a real chance to advance!"

Reinhardt (GA)

The Reinhardt University Eagles (26-3, 20-2 AAC) finished second to RV Bryan (TN) in the regular-season of the Appalachian Athletic Conference and received an at-large bid into the national championship after an 85-79 double overtime loss to Pikeville (KY) in their conference title game on March 2nd. Tony Campbell led the Eagles to their seventh all-time NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship in his first year as head coach. His squad is one of four AAC schools to earn a place in this year's national tournament. Notably, Reinhardt won their first 23 games and 19 AAC contests and was as rated high as 21st in the national rankings. Through the AAC Tournament, the Eagles averaged 79.3 PPG (4th in AAC), shot 45.1% as a team (2nd in AAC), hit 35.1% of their three-pointers (3rd in AAC) and surrendered 60.2 PPG on the defensive end (2nd in AAC). Maria Sanchez Ponce led Reinhardt in scoring (15.9 PPG, 15th in AAC) and rebounding (8.0 RPG, 6th in AAC) and Ashley Woodruffe was atop the assist ladder (2.9 APG, T-13th in AAC).

Roll Storm!
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Players Mentioned

Alyssa Alvarez

#20 Alyssa Alvarez

G
5' 11"
Senior
Kayla Clark

#23 Kayla Clark

G
5' 4"
Junior
Lauren Gunn

#10 Lauren Gunn

G
5' 7"
Sophomore
Halle Payne

#21 Halle Payne

P
5' 9"
Junior
Graciela Roybal

#3 Graciela Roybal

G
5' 4"
Junior
Emily Till

#14 Emily Till

P
6' 0"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Alvarez

#20 Alyssa Alvarez

5' 11"
Senior
G
Kayla Clark

#23 Kayla Clark

5' 4"
Junior
G
Lauren Gunn

#10 Lauren Gunn

5' 7"
Sophomore
G
Halle Payne

#21 Halle Payne

5' 9"
Junior
P
Graciela Roybal

#3 Graciela Roybal

5' 4"
Junior
G
Emily Till

#14 Emily Till

6' 0"
Sophomore
P