[Women's Basketball] No. 18 ranked Women's Basketball hosts No. 11 Tabor Saturday

This is a big one. The No. 18 ranked Kansas Wesleyan women's basketball team plays No. 11 Tabor on Saturday in a showdown between the top two teams in the Kansas Conference, starting at 5 p.m. at Mabee Arena. KWU and the Bluejays are each 19-2 in conference play, just half a game ahead of No. 17 Sterling (19-3), which plays at Bethany on Saturday. Tabor defeated the Coyotes 69-63 Jan. 2 in Hillsboro. KWU led 35-31 at halftime. Courtney Heinen (JR/Axtell, Kan.) had 23 points to lead Wesleyan.

LIVE COVERAGE
The game will be available online through the Coyote Sports Network, powered by Stretch Internet, http://portal.stretchinternet.com/kwu. Live Stats will be available on the Stretch portal and on DakStats at www.dakstats.com/naia. Radio coverage will be on FM 104.9 in the Salina area and around the world at www.ksal.com. Pat Strathman will have the call with pregame starting at 4:45 p.m.

GAME PROMOTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
The team will be wearing pink and raising money for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund through the #play4kay initiative, in honor of former NC State coach Kay Yow. The Cancer Fund raises money to fight against women's cancers. There will be many ways to support the cause, at the game, and by donating to the free throw challenge at kayyow.com, and searching for KWU in the NAIA section under the free throw challenge. Also on Saturday is faculty appreciation day. KWU Faculty can get free reserve tickets for themselves and family by contacting Meagan Contreras (meagan.contreras@kwu.edu), or by coming to the ticket gate at the game. Faculty that were invited by members of both the men's and women's teams will be recognized between the varsity games for their contributions to KWU and their support of KWU student-athletes. Jimmy John's is Saturday's official game day sponsor.
 

KANSAS WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE
The Coyotes' winning streak reached 11 Wednesday with a hard-fought 63-57 victory over Bethel in North Newton. KWU (21-6 overall) trailed 53-46 with just under 5 minutes left before rallying. Heinen led the way with 22 points while Kayla Kivinski (SR/Port Richey, Fla.) had 15.

KWU remains second in scoring in the conference (75.4 points), third in field goal percentage (41.5), but is first in 3-point field goals made per game (8.0) and second in 3-point field goal percentage (34.1). The Coyotes are second in assists (13.9) and third in scoring margin (11.6 points).

Defensively, they're seventh in points allowed (63.8), 10th in field goal percentage (39.5) and fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (28.2). They rank second in steals (11.2), third in rebound margin (7.1), fourth in blocks per game (3.3) and third in turnover margin (2.4). KWU forces 20.3 turnovers per game and commits an average of 17.9.

Kivinski averages a team-best 12.2 points, followed closely by Heinen (9.7), Sydney Mortensen (SR/Wichita, Kan.) (9.6), Haleigh Bradford (JR/Schertz, Texas) (9.0), Amanda Hill (SO/Rossville, Kan.) (8.1), Virja Lewis (SO/Kansas City, Kan.) (7.4) and Gabbie Miller (SR/Kiefer, Okla.) (7.3). Mortensen has a conference-best 67 made 3-pointers, is tops in 3-pointers per game (2.5) and second in 3-point shooting (41.4 percent). Miller's fourth in steals (2.2) and fifth in assists (3.2). Lewis ranks fifth in rebounding (7.8).

TABOR AT A GLANCE
The Bluejays are 22-3 overall and have won 15 in a row, their last loss against Friends 72-62 on Dec. 1 in Wichita. They were idle Wednesday after defeating Saint Mary 64-45 last Saturday in Hillsboro.

Tabor's forte is defense. The Bluejays lead the KCAC and are second nationally in points allowed (53.4), but are sixth in the conference in field goal percentage (38.2) and second in 3-point field goal percentage (26.4). They rank second in the conference in turnover margin (4.8), forcing 17.5 per game while committing just 12.7, are fourth in steals (8.6), sixth in rebounding margin (1.8) but just 13th in blocks (1.9).

Tabor's sixth in the KCAC in scoring (65.6) and fourth in field goal percentage (41.0), but leads the conference in 3-point shooting (34.2 percent), having made 441 3-pointers – 192 fewer than the Coyotes. Tabor also leads the KCAC and is second in the NAIA in free throw percentage (78.8).

Much like KWU, Tabor features balanced scoring. Morgan Ediger leads the team (11.1 average) followed by Taylor Deniston (10.4) and Kristyn Wedel (9.1). Eight others average between 3.2 and 5.9 points. Deniston and Wedel each had 15 against KWU in the first game. Deniston's the top 3-point shooter in the KCAC (42.9 percent) while Ediger leads the conference in free throw shooting (86.7 percent). Wedel (5.4) and Ediger (4.7) are the top two rebounders.