CALIFORNIA (March 22) – The California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team will face Nova Southeastern (Fla.) in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday, March 24, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

TICKETS
All tickets are general admission and tickets for individual sessions are priced as follows: adult tickets are $17, seniors 65 and older are $14, and students in kindergarten through college with a valid ID are $12. Children five and under will be admitted free. There is an all-day pass available for all four games on Tuesday for $22.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The NCAA will provide live stats and live video of the game at the links above. In addition, three different audio feeds from Sioux Falls will be available. The Cal U sports information office will also provide live updates throughout the game on @calvulcans.

STORYLINES
• Last time out: Cal U posted a 72-69 overtime win at home over Bloomsburg on March 16 in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship.
• The Vulcans are making their 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and hold a 25-11 overall record in NCAA post-season competition (2-2 Elite Eight).
• Cal U is making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2013 and has won 15 of its last 16 games.  

ABOUT THE VULCANS
• In her fourth season as head coach, Jess Strom enters with an 83-29 career record, including a 57-21 mark in PSAC play and a 5-1 record in the NCAA Tournament.
• Cal U features a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging in double digits with a team-high 15.9 points/game from sophomore Miki Glenn.
• The Vulcans rank in the top five of the PSAC in both scoring offense (73.3) and scoring defense (60.0). Cal U has held opponents to 60 points or fewer 14 times.

ABOUT THE SHARKS
• In four seasons at Nova Southeastern, LeAnn Freeland has compiled a 96-30 overall record and holds a 185-65 career record in eight years.
• Senior Jasmine Wilkins, the SSC Player of the Year, leads the team in scoring, rebounding and blocks, while shooting a league-best .607 from the floor.
• The Sharks rank second in the SSC in scoring offense (71.4) and are tied for the league lead with a plus-9.8 scoring margin/game,

ABOUT THE SERIES
• Cal U and NSU are playing each other for the first time, while the Vulcans have faced five current members of the SSC with the last meeting coming during the 1996-97 season.
• The Vulcans are in the Elite Eight for the fifth time in school history, having played Elite Eight games in Missouri (2003-04), Nebraska (2008), Texas (2009).

ABOUT CAL U
California (PA) is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and is located in California, Pennsylvania, which is 35 miles south of Pittsburgh. The university was founded in 1852 and now enrolls over 8,200 students. The Vulcans sponsor 16 intercollegiate athletic programs and have claimed three NCAA Division II National Championships, including back-to-back titles in softball in 1997-98.

ABOUT NSU
Nova Southeastern is a member of the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) and is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The university was founded in 1964 and now enrolls over 5,150 students with over 70 percent of the students being females. The Sharks sponsor 17 intercollegiate athletic programs and have claimed six NCAA Division II National Championships since 2009, including four-straight in women's golf.

ELITE COMPANY
The Vulcans are in the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in program history and have advanced to the Elite Eight five times.  Cal U holds a 25-11 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament with a 2-2 mark in the Elite Eight. The Vulcans are one of three teams (New Haven/1987; Emporia State/2010) at the 2015 Elite Eight to have claimed an NCAA Division II National Championship.

IN A FAMILIAR PLACE
NSU is making its third-straight appearance in the Elite Eight and holds a 10-3 all-time record in four appearances in the NCAA Tournament. The Sharks advanced to the Final Four for the first time last season after setting a program record for wins, finishing with a 29-4 record.

MAKE THEM COUNT
Sophomore Miki Glenn leads the team and ranks fourth in the PSAC in scoring this season with a career-high 16.2 points/game. She is the first Cal U player to total over 500 points since the 2010-11 season behind nine 20-point games. Glenn has shattered the single-season school record for free-throws this year, as nearly 40 percent of her points have come from the charity stripe. She ranks first in the PSAC with 205 free-throws made and 242 free-throw attempts, while sitting fourth in the league with an .847 free-throw percentage. The West Virginia native is already third in single-season league history for free-throws made with Melissa Swartz of Shippensburg holding the record of 219 free-throws during the 1995-96 campaign.

SHARK SHOOTING
NSU leads the Sunshine State Conference and ranks No. 12 in NCAA Division II this season with a .453 field-goal conference. Senior Jasmine Wilkins, who stands at 5-foot-10, leads the league and sits third in the country while shooting 60.7 percent from the floor. Redshirt junior Jessica Valley, a transfer from Indiana State, also ranks among the SSC leaders with a .428 field-goal percentage.

FRANTIC FRATZ
Senior Kaitlynn Fratz is averaging 19.3 points/game over the last six games, which spans both the PSAC and NCAA Tournaments. She has scored at least 14 points in each post-season game this season, while playing 40 minutes five times. Fratz nearly matched her career high with 32 points (22 first half) at Bloomsburg on March 7 in the semifinals of the PSAC Tournament. The high-energy, 5-foot-5 guard is also averaging 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 steals/game in the post-season.

TITLE SWEEP
Cal U and NSU both captured their league and regional titles this season. The Vulcans earned the PSAC Tournament Championship for the first time since 2006, while the Sharks repeated as the champions of the SSC Tournament for the first time in school history.

BALANCED OFFENSES
Cal U and NSU both average over 70 points while neither team features a player scoring more than 16.5 points/game. Four of the five starters for the Vulcans average double-digits and each has posted at least one 20-point game this season, including a team-best nine by sophomore Miki Glenn. Five regulars for the Sharks score at least 8.0 points/game with seniors Jasmine Wilkins and Danielle Robinson both having eclipsing 1,000 career points.

STEADY MAHADY
Senior forward Emma Mahady has increased her scoring average in each of the last three seasons, reaching a career high of 13.8 points/game this year. She ranks No. 14 in school history with 1,224 career points and also sits eighth all-time with 198 steals. Mahady registered her sixth 20-point game of the season when she scored 21 points in the PSAC Championship on March 8.

FACING THE BEST
The Vulcans enter the Elite Eight having already played seven games against nationally-ranked teams. Cal U has posted a 6-1 record this season against teams ranked in the USA Today Sports Top 25 poll, including a pair of wins over teams slotted in the top 10. In addition, the Vulcans posted a 10-2 mark against teams that qualified for the 2015 NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament.

THE SEEDS
Of the eight teams advancing to Sioux Falls, seven schools were slotted either Nos. 1 or 2 in their regional tournaments. Cal U was the top seed in the Atlantic Region, while NSU was tabbed No. 2 in the South Region.  California Baptist is representing West Region at the Elite Eight after claiming the regional title as the fifth seed.

YOUTH INFLUX
The Vulcans have featured the PSAC West Freshman of the Year in each of the last two seasons. Guard Miki Glenn received the laurel in 2014 before being an All-PSAC West First-Team selection this year, while forward Seairra Barrett was the overwhelming choice for the honor this season after being named PSAC West Freshman of the Week seven times.

IN THE POLL
Cal U has been featured in the USA Today Sports Top 25 poll 10 times this season, including five-straight weeks prior to the NCAA Tournament. The Vulcans are tabbed No. 14 in the latest rankings, marking their highest position in the poll since the 2008-09 season when they were tabbed No. 2 in the country twice and advanced to the Elite Eight for the second-straight year.

LONG DISTANCE
NSU leads the SSC with a .352 three-point field-goal percentage and 7.5 three-pointers/game. The Sharks have averaged 9.5 three-pointers over their last six games, shooting 41.0 percent from beyond the arc during that span. NSU has made a season-high 14 three-pointers twice and three players have converted over 50 treys this year.

"WE ARE R" TEAM AWARD
The Vulcans are one of three finalists for the fourth-annual "Together We R" Team Award, which honors programs that have strived to succeed in the face of adversity, overcoming extraordinary circumstances such as an unforeseen team crisis, barrier or unfortunate situation that caused extra stress. Cal U has posted a 15-2 record and captured both the PSAC and Atlantic Region Championships since senior forward Shanice Clark, who was redshirting this season, passed away on Jan. 18 at the age of 21.