Game Time... The Red Raiders open play at the 2008 NAIA National Tournament Thursday night against Holy Names (Calif.) in Sioux City, Iowa. Northwestern, one of four number one seeds in the 32-team field, is 30-2 overall and won the GPAC Postseason Championship to earn one of two automatic berths from the GPAC. Holy Names is an eighth seed and received an automatic berth by winning the California-Pacific Postseason Tournament. Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 7:30 pm and the game can be heard via the Northwestern College web-cast at the following link or off our athletic homepage: audio.
Scouting Report... The Hawks of Holy Names University are the lone representative from the California Pacific Conference and qualified via the postseason tournament championship. HNU finished league play with a 14-2 record and are 19-13 overall. Head Coach Steve Spencer, in his fourth season with the Hawks (73-50), was named CPC Coach-of-the-Year after leading his team to both the regular and postseason titles. Holy Names is making their first trip to the national tournament since 2005 and ninth overall.
The Hawks average 70ppg and are shooting 39% from the field, 31% from beyond the arc. Defensively, they give up 68ppg and teams are shooting 38% from the floor, just 29% from the three point line. HNU is being out-rebounded this season by a -6 margin but have 121 blocked shots on the season.
Individually, Holy Names is led by Angelina Hutton, a 5-9 senior guard from Oakland, Calif. Hutton earned first team all-league honors and is scoring a team-best 13.8ppg. She leads the team with 59 three pointers and is shooting 32% from beyond the arc. Martha Spivey, a 6-1 senior, earned conference player-of-the-year honors after averaging 13ppg and a team-best 10.8 boards per contest. Spivey is a two-time first team all-league player and also earned the league's defensive player-of-the-year honor for the third straight year. She leads the team shooting 48% from the floor and has a team-best 75 blocked shots. Spivey is sixth all-time in the school's history with 1,024 points and is second in rebounding (814). Junior forward Junai Dawson averages 10ppg and is second on the team with 6.6rpg. Guards Chelsie Kadota and Larisa Nakasone round out the starting lineup for Coach Spencer's squad. Kadota, a 5-5 junior, averages 7.5ppg and is second on the team with 42 three pointers. A 5-4 sophomore, Nakasone averages 5.4 points and leads the team with 114 assists. Mana Camara and C'ani Keahloha are the top players off the bench for the Hawks. Camara is a 5-8 sophomore who averages 5.4ppg while Keahloha is a 5-6 freshman who is third on the team with 32 three point baskets.
Last Time Out... Holy Names defeated Bethany (Calif.) and Cal. State University-East Bay in the semifinals and finals of the conference tournament back on Feb. 22 and 23. They edged Bethany 69-67 and held off Cal. State, 52-46, in the championship game. The Hawks shot just 33% for the game but limited Cal. State to 28% to earn the low-scoring victory. Mana Camara was the only HNU player in double figures with 12 points.
Northwestern defeated Morningside 83-79 to win the GPAC Postseason Tournament Championship on March 4 for their fourth straight win. The Red Raiders never trailed against the second-ranked Mustangs as they jumped out to an 11-5 lead. Northwestern extended their lead to 16 (41-25), the largest of the game, when Mandy Carr hit a three pointer with 2:49 left in the first half and led 45-32 at intermission. Morningside, however, scored the next 13 points over a four minute span to cut the NWC lead down to three, 48-45. The Red Raiders responded with a 10-2 run to push the lead back to double digits with 12 minutes to play. Northwestern still led by 12, 69-57, before Morningside outscored NWC 13-3 to cut the lead down to two with three minutes to play. The Red Raiders held on in the end, scoring the next six points, five by senior guard Amy Larson, and made enough free throws down the stretch to clinch the tournament championship.
The Red Raiders shot 53% from the floor, 39% from beyond the arc, while Morningside shot 38% from the field. Debbie Remmerde led three NWC players in double figures with 26 points followed by Amy Larson with 16. Becca Hurley added 11 off the bench. Northwestern out-rebounded the Mustangs, 39-34, led by Crystal Algood with nine.
Red Raider Notes... NWC will be making their seventh trip to the national tournament, all under the direction of Head Coach Earl Woudstra. This is the third straight appearance as the Red Raiders lost in the Final Four in 2006 and fell in the Sweet Sixteen round last year. Northwestern is 16-5 all-time at nationals with one national championship (2001).
NWC rank second in the nation scoring 90ppg. They lead the NAIA in field goal percentage (53%) and three point percentage (43%). The Red Raiders are ninth in rebounding (+7) and are giving up 68ppg. Coach Woudstra's squad is holding opponents to just 37% from the floor.
Individually, Northwestern is led by a strong cast of seniors: Crystal Algood, Miranda Boekhout, Mandy Carr, Amy Larson and Debbie Remmerde. They have combined for 103 wins, 26 losses and three trips to the national tournament. Remmerde, a three-time NAIA All-American, is the all-time leading scorer in NAIA D-II history. The 5-9 guard, who was the GPAC Player-of-the-Year for the second time this past season, leads the nation in scoring (29.5) and several other offensive categories. Remmerde has made 53% of her three pointers (108/204) and is shooting better than 97% from the free throw line. Larson, a 5-6 guard, earned first team all-GPAC honors after averaging 17.3ppg. She is fourth in the NAIA with 95 three pointers and has scored over 1,000 points in her career. Boekhout, an honorable mention all-GPAC pick, averages seven points per game, five rebounds per game and is fourth in the NAIA with 182 assists. She has scored 985 points in her career, is the all-time assist leader at NWC and is second in blocked shots in a career. Algood, a 6-4 post player, earned second team all-GPAC honors after leading NWC with 7.5rpg. She is also averaging 8.6ppg and leads the GPAC with 97 blocked shots. Carr, a 5-9 guard, was third in the league with 161 assists and averages 5.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. She is second all-time at NWC in steals and assists and earned honorable mention all-league honors. Sophomore Randa Hulstein and freshmen Becca Hurley and Morgan Achterhoff are the top players off the bench for Coach Woudstra's squad. Hulstein averages 9.8ppg, six boards per game and is shooting 68% from the floor. Hurley, a 5-9 guard who earned honorable mention all-league honors, averages eight points per game and is third on the team with 31 three pointers. Achterhoff averages three points per game.
Next up...The winner of this opening round game will face the winner of #4 Sterling (Kan.) vs #5 Cornerstone (Mich.) on Friday night at 7:30pm in the Sweet Sixteen.
NAIA Women's Tournament Headquarters
2007-08 media guide
