CALIFORNIA (March 24) – The California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team will face Emporia State (Kan.) in the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday, March 25, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

TICKETS
All tickets are general admission and tickets 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.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The NCAA will provide live stats and live video of the game at the links above. Fans can also watch the game live on CBS Sports Network, check your local listings for channel information. 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 an 84-79 overtime win over Nova Southeastern (Fla.) yesterday in the Elite Eight. Four starters scored in double-digits in the victory.
• The Vulcans are making their 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and hold a 26-11 overall record in NCAA post-season competition (1-1 Final Four).
• Cal U is making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2013 and has won 16 of its last 17 games.

ABOUT THE VULCANS
• In her fourth season as head coach, Jess Strom enters with an 84-29 career record, including a 57-21 mark in PSAC play and a 6-1 record in the NCAA Tournament.
• Cal U features a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging in double digits with a team-high 16.2 points/game from sophomore Miki Glenn.
• The Vulcans rank in the top five of the PSAC in both scoring offense (73.6) and scoring defense (60.5). Cal U has held opponents to 60 points or fewer 14 times.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
• In five seasons at Emporia State, Jory Collins Freeland has compiled a 125-35 overall record while posting at least 20 victories every year.
• Sophomore Kelly Moten leads the team in scoring at 14.8 points/game, while senior Merissa Quick averages team-bests  of 6.9 rebounds and 3.6 blocks/game.
• The Hornets lead the MIAA in both field-goal percentage defense (.330) and blocks (8.0), while ranking second in the league in scoring defense (54.7).

ABOUT THE SERIES
• Cal U and Emporia State are playing each other for the first time and the Vulcans have only faced one current member of the MIAA (Missouri Southern).
• 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 EMPORIA STATE
Emporia State is a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) and is located in Emporia, Kansas. The university was founded in 1863 and now enrolls over 3,875 students with 60 percent of the students being females. The Hornets sponsor 11 intercollegiate athletic programs and men's basketball head coach Shaun Vandiver was selected in the first round of the 1991 NBA Draft.

ELITE COMPANY
The Vulcans are in the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in program history and have advanced to the national semifinals three times.  Cal U holds a 26-11 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament with a 1-1 mark in the national semifinals. 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.

A REGULAR FACE
Emporia State is making its 13th-consecutive appearance, and 17th in the last 19 years, in the NCAA Tournament. The Hornets finished as the national runner-up in 1999 before claiming the 2010 National Championship. Emporia State has advanced to the Elite Eight six times despite losing in its regional championship in each of the last three years.

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 207 free-throws made and 246 free-throw attempts, while sitting fourth in the league with an .841 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.

BLOCK PARTY
Emporia State leads NCAA Division II this season with 8.0 blocks/game. Senior Merissa Quick ranks second in the MIAA and fourth in the country with 3.6 blocks/game, while classmate Amber Vandiver registers 2.1 blocks/game. Quick, who stands at 6-foot-3, entered the Elite Eight ranked third among active players in NCAA Division II with 319 career blocks, while leading the country with 130 games played.

FRANTIC FRATZ
Senior Kaitlynn Fratz is averaging 19.6 points/game over the last seven 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 at least 40 minutes six 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 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals/game in the post-season.

TITLE SWEEP
Cal U and Emporia State both captured their league and regional titles this season. The Vulcans earned the PSAC Tournament Championship for the first time since 2006 and claimed the Atlantic region title, while the Hornets won the MIAA Tournament for the third-straight year and posted the Central region championship.

BALANCED OFFENSES
Cal U and Emporia State 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. Six regulars for the Hornets score at least 7.0 points/game with seniors Kelly Moten and Merissa Quick both averaging double-digits this season.

STEADY MAHADY
Senior forward Emma Mahady has increased her scoring average in each of the last three seasons, reaching a career high of 14.1 points/game this year. She ranks No. 14 in school history with 1,248 career points and also sits eighth all-time with 200 steals. Mahady registered her seventh 20-point game of the season when she scored 24 points in the yesterday's victory in the Elite Eight.

FACING THE BEST
The Vulcans have already played eight games against nationally-ranked teams. Cal U has posted a 7-1 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 Emporia State was tabbed No. 2 in the Central 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.

STING-Y DEFENSE
Emporia State leads NCAA Division II this season with a .330 field-goal percentage defense, while ranking third in scoring defense at 54.7 points/game. The Hornets have allowed over 70 points only once this season, while holding opponents to under 50 points seven times. Emporia State also sits ninth in the country with a .263 three-point field-goal defense and leads the nation with 8.0 blocks/game.

"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.