CC Tournament Website
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College women's basketball team will aim to make the most of its first experience as the top team in the conference when the Bullets host the 2013 Centennial Conference Championship inside Bream Gym on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-23.
Gettysburg (19-6, 16-4 CC) earned the top seed in the conference for the first time in the 20-year history of the event. The Bullets beat out a talented playoff field that includes Swarthmore College (19-6, 15-5 CC), two-time defending champion Muhlenberg College (17-8, 14-6 CC), Johns Hopkins University (15-10, 13-7 CC), and Haverford College (15-9, 12-8 CC).
“I think it's awesome first of all because it's the first time we've ever had the opportunity,” said Head Coach
Mike Kirkpatrick. “Secondly, we don't have to travel and the kids get to sleep in their own beds and have a normal routine. I think it's a great thing.”
Gettysburg has not hosted a conference championship in nearly three decades. The last time the Bullets hosted a championship game was in 1985 when the team won the Middle Atlantic Conference Southern Division title. Gettysburg has hosted only one Centennial Conference playoff game, beating McDaniel College 79-71 in the opening round of the 2008 postseason event.
The inexperience in postseason play at home is countered by the success inside Bream Gym this winter. The Bullets are 11-2 inside the friendly confines and have not lost since a 53-52 decision to Swarthmore on Dec. 8. Gettysburg is suffocating its opponents on its own floor, holding teams to 28 percent shooting from the field and 46.6 points per game.
The Bullets will need to take advantage of hosting rights in a season where there is no clear favorite to claim the conference title. Muhlenberg and Johns Hopkins have squared off for the title in each of the last two seasons, but they were supplanted at the top of the standings by two teams that failed to make the postseason last year in Gettysburg and Swarthmore. And don't count out Haverford. The Fords own wins over each playoff team except Gettysburg, including a victory over the Garnet to end the regular season.
“I think that's one of the things that will make the tournament really exciting,” said Kirkpatrick. “You can't really predict that this team will be in the final or this team will be in the final because the way the season went. Everyone knocked off everyone.”
Gettysburg could claim to be the hottest team in the conference heading into the postseason. Since the beginning of 2013, the Bullets have won 15 of 17 contests, falling only to Ursinus College by two points and Johns Hopkins by seven. The team grabbed the top seed thanks to a defense that leads the Centennial Conference in scoring defense (48.1 ppg) and field-goal percentage defense (28.6 percent).
According to Coach Kirkpatrick, the key to winning the conference title will come down to more than just a solid defensive effort. Gettysburg will need to own the boards as well. The squad was out-rebounded in five of its six losses this season.
“I think the biggest thing for us is to rebound,” said the coach. “If we're rebounding really well, I think we have a good shot, no matter who we play. If we're not rebounding that day, I think it's a toss-up and something else special needs to happen.”
The Centennial Conference opens with Haverford visiting Johns Hopkins on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 7:30 p.m. The winner will draw the Bullets in the first semifinal inside Bream Gym on Friday, Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. with Muhlenberg and Swarthmore facing each other in the second semi at 8 p.m. The championship game is set for Saturday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m.
