Messiah NCAA Tournament Website

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College women's basketball team will continue its postseason dance against William Paterson University at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, March 1, inside Messiah College's Brubaker Gymnasium.
 
Messiah (23-4) will host Lancaster Bible College (24-4) in Friday's second game at 7:30 p.m. The two winners will square off at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 2.
 
Ticket prices for the event are $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. Children five and under are admitted free of charge.
 
Gettysburg (21-6) is in the national playoffs for the fifth time in program history. No one could have predicted the Bullets would make it this far after entering the season without a senior or a returning all-conference performer. The team was also picked to finish in the middle of the Centennial Conference in the preseason.
 
But the Orange and Blue has exceeded expectations exponentially. Gettysburg won its first Centennial Conference championship and received the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The team's 21 wins mark the third-best total in school history. Three Bullets were named to the all-conference team with Head Coach Mike Kirkpatrick named the CC Coach of the Year.  
 
“We're very excited because it tells people we play pretty good basketball,” said Kirkpatrick on Gettysburg's postseason berth. “To win the conference was a big thing and to go to the tournament is another big step for us and another one of our goals for the season. The kids are really excited about it and I'm always excited to play another game.”
 
Kirkpatrick is in the midst of his 24th season at the helm. He has guided the Bullets to a record of 347-251 and three trips to the national playoffs. In Gettysburg's last visit to NCAAs in 2010, the team won its opening two contests over Farmingdale State College and Utica College to earn a berth into the “Sweet 16.” The run nearly took them into the national quarterfinals, but the Bullets fell to Babson College 71-68 in overtime.
 
During the 2009-10 campaign, Gettysburg out-scored its opponents by nearly 14 points per game. This season, the team has taken on a different mentality. The Bullets have been grinding out wins, using strong second-half surges to get by opponents and then holding on for the victory. Gettysburg has out-scored its opponents by 122 points in the second half alone.
 
“We have been a team that some days we play really well and some days we just grind it out,” said Kirkpatrick. “I'm okay with grinding it out if the end result is in our favor. Obviously, as a coach I'd love to have those 12 points wins where it's a little more comfortable in the last couple minutes and you don't have to stress out.”
 
No players on the current roster were members of the last NCAA Tournament team. But that lack of national playoff experience shouldn't be a factor according to Kirkpatrick.
 
“I don't think the experience for our group is going to have any impact at all. Our group plays the same way all the time.”
 
The Bullets will face a William Paterson (20-7) team that is well-versed in postseason play. The Pioneers are making their 11th NCAA appearance since 1993. Five of the squad's seven setbacks this winter came at the hands of nationally-ranked opponents, including three losses to undefeated Montclair State University (27-0). William Paterson finished runner-up in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. Similar to the Bullets, the Pioneers do not have a senior on the roster.
 
Gettysburg and William Paterson have met only once and ironically enough, it came in the NCAA Tournament. The Pioneers topped the Bullets 80-55 during the 1995 playoffs.
 
Gettysburg leads all of Division III in field-goal percentage defense, holding its opponents to just 28.4 percent shooting on the season. The team has held each of its last eight opponents to under 50 points and it ranks 16th in the nation in scoring defense at 47.9 points per game.
 
Offensively, junior Caroline Murphy (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) leads the way at 13.4 points per game. Freshman Jessica Porter (Narberth, Pa./Lower Merion) and junior Alyssa Isler (New Hope, Pa./New Hope-Solebury) are averaging 11.8 and 9.6 points per game, respectively. Murphy was first-team all-conference, while Porter and Isler were each tabbed second team.
 
Gettysburg receives major contributions from its whole roster, making the team difficult for opponents to figure out. For Kirkpatrick, the keys to winning are simple.
 
“If we rebound well and take care of the ball then we're in every single game,” said Coach Kirkpatrick. “Coaches all say that but it's really true for us. If we rebound really well, we'll be there. And if we take care of the ball, we'll be there.”