Tournament Game Notes

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The Gettysburg College women's basketball team kicks off 2011 by hosting the 21st Annual Days Inn Tournament inside Bream Gym on Jan. 2-3. This year's field includes the Bullets, Randolph College, the University of Scranton, and St. Mary's (Md.) College.

Opening Tip
The 2011 Days Inn Tournament features a pair of squads that participated in the Big Dance last season and a pair of teams hoping to thwart those same designs. Gettysburg and Scranton won a combined 47 games last season and each team advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament. St. Mary's looks to continue building momentum as it heads into the New Year, while Randolph hopes to open 2011 with an upset and set its season back on track.

Live Coverage
You can follow all the action from Wednesday's game by tuning into Gettysburg's live stats (http://www.sidearmstats.com/gettysburg/wbball/index.htm) or watch live pay-per-view video of the game (http://www.gettysburgsports.com/showcase/).

All-Time Series
Gettysburg will open the tournament against an unfamiliar opponent in Randolph. The two have never met on the basketball court and do not share any common foes this season. The Bullets have faced both of their potential second-round opponents. The squad is 3-0 all-time against St. Mary's, including a 77-51 win over the Seahawks in the teams' last meeting in 2001-02. Gettysburg's record against Scranton stands at 1-3 with two of those games taking place in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Royals won the last meeting 66-62 in overtime in the opening game of the 2009 Days Inn Tournament.

2010 Days Inn Tournament Recap
Gettysburg battled its way to its fifth title at its own tournament last season. The Bullets held off Neumann 59-55 in their opening game as Caitlin Moser posted 17 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Courtney Fields '10 added 11 points and Sara Kinsley tallied 10 points and five blocks off the bench. In the championship tilt, the hosts jumped out to an 18-point first-half lead en route to a 79-72 win over Alvernia. Moser and Fields once again led the way with 22 points apiece, while Allie Drechsler'10 dished out 10 assists. Moser was named the Sally Musselmn Most Outstanding Player, while Fields was tabbed to the All-Tournament team for the second time in her career.

The Coach
Head Coach Mike Kirkpatrick is Gettysburg's all-time leader in coaching victories with a record of 299-228. He has led the Bullets to a winning record in 18 of his 21 seasons and is coming off a season in which he was named Centennial Conference Coach of the Year after his squad set a record for wins (24) and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Divisoin III Tournament.

Last Time Out
Gettysburg hit only 26.2 percent of its attempts from the field in a 66-53 loss at Franklin & Marshall on Dec. 8. The Bullets stayed with the hosts for most of the game as the defense forced the Diplomats into 32 turnovers, but a six-minute scoring drought late in the second period sealed the visitor's fate. Caitlin Moser was the lone Bullet to reach double-figures with 17 points in addition to eight rebounds and five steals. Julie McGrory posted eight points and Sara Kinsley notched 10 boards and a career-high six blocked shots.

Scouting Report: Randolph College
Randolph enters 2011 looking for a fresh start to the season. The Wildcats have come up empty in their previous seven contests, including four losses in the competitive Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Olivia Johnson has led the team in scoring in each of the last three contests, including a season-high 18 in a loss to Bridgewater. Sam Sublett has either led or been tied for the team lead in rebounding in five of seven games.

Scouting Report: University of Scranton
Scranton rebounded from back-to-back losses by winning five straight before a 57-39 loss to No. 3 Kean on Dec. 21. The Lady Royals last appeared in the Days Inn Tournament in 2009, defeating Gettysburg 66-62 in overtime in the opening round and blasting Kean 77-52 in the championship. Megan Kopecki was named Most Outstanding Player after averaging 18.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 5.0 steals in the two contests. Kopecki has continued her outstanding career and recently climbed to fourth in Scranton's all-time scoring list with over 1,400 career points. Jennifer King is Scranton's second-leading scorer and top three-point threat and has knocked down 18 at a clip of 39.1 percent.

Scouting Report: St. Mary's College
St. Mary's has battled to wins in each of its last three contests, including a pair of overtime wins. The Seahawks slipped by Stevenson (61-58) and York (79-70) in extras before trouncing Hood 70-45 in their final game before the break. Against the Blazers, St. Mary's won the battle of the boards 46-33 as Sophie Pruden notched a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. A different player has led the team in scoring in each of the last five contests. Jasmine Jones is the team's second-leading scorer and top distributor at 4.3 assists per game. She posted a season-high 22 points and hit the game-winning three-pointer with one second left against Stevenson.

Ranked No More
Gettysburg was knocked out of the national rankings for the first time this season in the recent polls released by D3hoops and the WBCA. The Bullets entered the year ranked in the top 25 by both organizations, including No. 16 by D3hoops.

Conference Favorite
The Bullets were selected as the favorite to win the Centennial Conference this season by the coaches and sports information directors. Gettysburg received 13 first-place votes and 192 points to edge runner-up Muhlenberg, which totaled nine first-place nods and 188 points. It is the first time Gettysburg has been selected as the preseason favorite in the conference.

Preseason All-American
Senior Caitlin Moser begins her final campaign as a preseason All-America Fourth Team selection by D3hoops.com. A two-time first-team All-Mid-Atlantic Region selection, Moser has never earned national honors from the website, though she was a first-team WBCA All-American in 2009-10.

Tip-Off Champs
Gettysburg captured the Frostburg State Jim Crawley Tip-off Tournament title for the second consecutive year. The Bullets won each game by 20-plus points, disposing of York (N.Y.) 83-56 and beating the hosts 76-52. Both Julie McGrory (MVP) and Caitlin Moser were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Coaching Milestone
A victory by his team tonight would give Gettysburg mentor Mike Kirkpatrick his 300th career win. Kirkpatrick has accounted for more than half of the program's 593 documented varsity wins since 1945. He will be one of three Centennial coaches to reach that mark in their careers, joining Johns Hopkins' Nancy Funk (547) and McDaniel's Becky Martin (436).

All-Tournament Streak
Caitlin Moser has been named to the Days Inn All-Tournament Team in each of her previous three seasons, including being named the Sally Musselman Most Outstanding Player in 2010. In six tournament games, Moser has averaged just under 17 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. For her career, she has received all-tournament accolades six times in seven events.

Block Party
Sara Kinsley is coming off a career-high six blocked shots at Franklin & Marshall. She has posted at least three blocks in each of her last four outings and she enters 2011 as the Centennial Conference leader at 2.7 per game. Kinsley ranks fourth on the school's career list with 89.