Women’s basketball team plays at Hope in MIAA Tournament semifinals

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College women's basketball team travels to play Hope College in the semifinals of the 2016 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament Friday, Feb. 26, at the DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland.

TICKET INFORMATION FOR SEMIFINALS

• Ticket price for one session (afternoon or evening) - $7 general admission, $5 for faculty/staff/non-MIAA student
• Ticket price for both sessions - $10 general admission, $7 for faculty/staff/non-MIAA student
• Immediately following the conclusion of all semifinal games, Hope College ticket staff will sell tickets to the winning team fans who are present. The ticket office will open at noon on the day of the tournament final.
• Session 1 tickets can be purchased at the door or by calling (616) 395-7890.
• Session 2 tickets and Friday all-Session tickets can be purchased by calling (616) 395-7890.
• When calling to purchase tickets, fans will need to identify what school they are with.
• All MIAA students are free, but are required to shown an ID to receive a ticket.

MIAA TOURNAMENT: The Comets are the No. 4 seed, while the Flying Dutch are the No. 1 seed. The other semifinal features No. 2 seed Calvin College playing No. 3 seed Trine (Ind.) University Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. inside the DeVos Fieldhouse. The winners of the two semifinal games will play in the tournament championship game Saturday, Feb. 27, at 5 p.m. and played at the DeVos Fieldhouse.

SEASON SERIES: Hope won both regular season meetings. On Dec. 5, 2015, the Flying Dutch beat Olivet, 75-52, at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet, and on Jan. 27, 2016, Hope won the second meeting, 76-55, at the DeVos Fieldhouse.

OLIVET HEAD COACH NICOLE BURFORD: In six seasons, Nicole Burford has led Olivet to a 77-76 record as the head coach of the women's basketball program and is only the third coach in school history to post a winning season. The 77 wins are the most by a women's basketball coach in school history. Burford was an assistant coach for three years before earning the promotion to head coach. She earned a bachelor's degree from Oberlin (Ohio) College in 2005 and master's degree from Western Michigan University in 2007.

HOPE HEAD COACH BRIAN MOREHOUSE:  Brian Morehouse is completing his 21st season as the head coach of the Hope College women's basketball program and has a win-loss record of 503-77. During his time at Hope, the Flying Dutch have won have won 20 or more games 19 consecutive seasons, claimed 14 MIAA titles, made 14 trips to the NCAA tournament, including two Final Four appearances and a Division III national championship in 2006. Morehouse earned a bachelor's degree from Hope in 1991.

CAPTAINS: The 2015-16 team captains are senior Dallas Austin, of St. Johns, and junior Jillian Nickels, of Byron Center.

BALANCED SCORING: The Comets have seven players averaging at least 5.0 points per game this season, led by senior Shauni Hankins, of Detoit, with a 10.2 scoring average. Senior Bre Kidd, of Detroit, is averging 7.6 ppg, followed by Austin, 6.9 ppg; juniors T'Keyia Collins, of Muskegon, and Katie McKinnon, of Jenison, at 6.4 ppg each, and senior Jackie Harwood, of Sault Ste. Marie, and sophomore Ayren Parrish, of Charlotte, at 5.0 ppg each.

PULLING DOWN THE REBOUNDS: Austin leads the team in rebounding at 6.5 rebounds per game. She grabbed a career-best 14 rebounds in last Saturday's win against Adrian College.

DISHING THE BALL: Kidd has dished out a team-leading 59 assists. Hankins is not far behind with 56.

SOLID PLAYER: In addition to her team-best rebounding, Austin has 49 assists, 22 blocks and 46 steals.

SEVEN SENIORS: The Comets' roster features seven seniors. Austin is the only one of the seven to play all four years at Olivet. Six of the remaining seven transferred to Olivet for their last two seasons of collegiate basketball – Hankins and Kidd (Macomb Community College), Harwood (Kellogg Community College), Leighann Thilo (Northwood University) and Morgan West (Jackson College).

WINS RECORD: In her four years, Austin has helped Olivet post a 64-39 record, with the 64 wins being the most by a women's basketball player in school history.

MIAA TOURNAMENT: Olivet has advanced to the MIAA Tournament each of the last four seasons. In 2013, the Comets were the No. 4 seed and played at No. 1 Hope in the semifinals. In 2014, Olivet was No. 2 seed and hosted No. 3 seed Calvin. Last year, the Comets were the #4 seed and played at top seed Calvin.