DECATUR – The No. 15-ranked Millikin women’s basketball team began their journey to the 2023 NCAA Division III Tournament on Wednesday night, loading up the team bus for a trip to the campus of Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky.
The Big Blue (23-4) will hit the court on Friday in a first-round game against Atlanta’s Emory University at 4:45 p.m. CT. The Eagles (17-7) received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and it is the second-ever meeting between the schools, as they previously met during the 1997 NCAA Tournament in the Round of 16.
To get to the NCAAs, the Big Blue took care of business in the CCIW Tournament, defeating Illinois Wesleyan (82-65) and Augustana (57-52) to claim the conference regular-season and tournament championships.
Last season, the team got together for the NCAA DII Tournament selection announcement, wondering if they would qualify. Now CCIW Tournament champs, the feeling was slightly different when the team assembled again to know when and where they would play next.
“This was the first time we won the CCIW Tournament at home with fans here. We won it during COVID, but it was a little different feeling because nobody was here. It was nice to experience that with fans,” Head Coach Olivia Lett said. “The selection show had a different feeling when you already know you are in. I think that shows our focus, and their brains moved immediately to our matchup when we saw the names up there.”
Guards Claire Brock and Daniella Aronsky lead Emory in scoring with 16.5 and 10.3 points per game, respectively.
“Emory plays in the UAA (University Athletic Association), one of the top conferences in Division III, so their record might not be bright and shiny but they play some of the toughest competition,” Lett said. “They will be battle-tested and have two guards that are their leading scorers. We have to be ready for both of them.”
Following the end of the regular season, the team has picked up several awards, including CCIW Lori Kerans Most Outstanding Athlete for junior guard Elyce Knudsen, who led the conference with 23.6 points per game in CCIW play, and Beth Baker Coach of the Year for Lett. Bailey Coffman joined Knudsen on the CCIW All-Conference First Team and Chelsea McCullum was named to the Second Team.
Senior guard Miranda Fox received the CCIW Elite 26 Award, along with Augustana’s Kylie Jozwik, for women's basketball. The award is given to a student-athlete who excels academically and athletically at the conference level in the CCIW's 26 sponsored sports.
Fox, a Communication major, has a 4.0 grade point average and is the Big Blue’s starting point guard, leading the team in assists with 78 this season.
“It is cool when our team gets awards because it is something we all consider a team thing. You aren’t going to get those without the rest of the team,” Fox said. “We can’t get those awards without working with each other.”
Fox hopes her future career will continue to focus on athletics and aims to become a college athletic director. She recently completed a Performance Learning opportunity with the Athletics Department.
“I interned with Millikin Athletic Director Craig White last semester and I was able to run a lot of the Fall Semester events. The next step is to hopefully get my Master’s and find a position at a college,” Fox said. “I’m excited about the NCAAs and hopefully, we can go farther than last year.”
A victory over Emory will put the Big Blue against either Rhodes College (17-11) or undefeated host Transylvania University (27-0). Rhodes and Transylvania square off on Friday at 6:45 p.m. CT. Last season, the Big Blue advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
“(Having been there last year), we know what the competition will be like and what that second night of games will feel like,” Lett said. “Our focus is to ensure we are prepared to go both nights. Take care of business on the first night and hopefully have a chance to pull off an upset on the second night.”
Tickets and Streaming:
Tickets for the games will be on sale at the Beck Center on the day of each event. Tickets are $10 for adults and seven dollars for students/children. Children under two are free with a ticketed adult and are required to be in the lap of the adult.
For fans unable to make the trip to Lexington, the NCAA and Transylvania University will provide a live video broadcast of the game at https://team1sports.com/transy/.
Live Stats coverage is available at: https://transysports.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
NCAA DIII Lexington Regional Site (Full tournament information including parking and information on Lexington area.)