CALIFORNIA (March 27) – The California University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team will face California Baptist in the national championship of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 27, 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, two 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 51-46 victory over Emporia State (Kan.) on Wednesday in the Final Four. Senior Irina Kukolj posted a double-double in the win.
• The Vulcans are making their 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and hold a 27-11 overall record in NCAA post-season competition (1-0 National Championship).
• Cal U is making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2013 and has won 17 of its last 18 games.

ABOUT THE VULCANS
• In her fourth season as head coach, Jess Strom enters with an 85-29 career record, including a 57-21 mark in PSAC play and a 7-1 record in the NCAA Tournament.
• Cal U features a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging in double digits with a team-high 16.1 points/game from sophomore Miki Glenn.
• The Vulcans rank in the top five of the PSAC in both scoring offense (72.9) and scoring defense (60.1). Cal U has held opponents to 60 points or fewer 15 times.

ABOUT THE LANCERS
• In three seasons at California Baptist, Jarrod Olson has compiled a 70-24 overall record while holding a 206-120 career record in 11 seasons.
• Sophomores Courtney Nelson and Cassidy Mihalko pace four starters in double digits with 15.4 and 15.1 points/game, respectively.
• The Lancers rank fourth in the country and second in the PacWest in scoring offense (79.9) behind 8.1 three-pointers/game, which is No. 11 in the nation.

ABOUT THE SERIES
• Cal U and California Baptist are playing each other for the first time and the Vulcans have never faced a current member of the PacWest Conference.
• 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 CBU
California Baptist is a member of the Pacific West Conference and is located in Riverside, California. The university was founded in 1950 and enrolls nearly 5,800 students with tuition costing almost $30,000. The Lancers sponsor 20 intercollegiate athletic programs and previously were an NAIA program before becoming a full member of NCAA Division II prior to the 2013-14 season. CBU captured 22 NAIA team championships from 1999-2011 and totaled 149 individual national champions.

ELITE COMPANY
The Vulcans are in the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in program history and have advanced to the national championship for the second time.  Cal U holds a 27-11 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament with a 1-0 mark in the national championship. 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 NEW BEGINNING
California Baptist won a pair of league titles in three years from 1988-90 while competing in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) during its NAIA years. The Lancers previously featured 12 NAIA All-Americans, producing at least one All-American in a pair of three-consecutive years. CBU has posted one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA Division II this year after setting a program record with 29 victories, which marks a 13-win improvement from last season (16-12).

MAKE THEM COUNT
Sophomore Miki Glenn leads the team and ranks fourth in the PSAC in scoring this season with a career-high 16.1 points/game. She 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 213 free-throws made and 252 free-throw attempts, while sitting fourth in the league with an .845 free-throw percentage. The West Virginia native is now tied for second in single-season league history and enters play only six free-throws made shy of tying the all-time PSAC record.

BURN-ING UP
Junior Darsha Burnside ranks among the top five in NCAA Division II this season in rebounds, blocks and double-doubles, while scoring 14.2 points/game. Burnside leads the PacWest with 12.8 rebounds/game, including 4.0 offensive rebounds/game, and ranks second in the league with 3.45 blocks/game. The 6-foot-2 forward previously was a two-time, first-team all-conference player at San Bernardino Valley College before registering 24 double-doubles, which is third-most in the country, at CBU.

FRANTIC FRATZ
Senior Kaitlynn Fratz is averaging 18.9 points/game over the last eight 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. The high-energy, 5-foot-5 guard is also averaging 4.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.1 steals/game in the post-season. Fratz, who played her first two years at Pitt-Johnstown, has scored 1,737 points during her career (15.1 points/game) with a career-high 504 this year.

FLASHBACK ...
Cal U captured the 2004 NCAA Division II National Championship with a 75-72 victory over Drury in St. Joseph, Missouri, on March 27 - the same date as the 2015 title game.

CALIFORNICATION
Despite both schools having California in their name, CBU and Cal U are separated by nearly 2,400 miles. California Baptist is located about 60 miles east of Lost Angeles and the city of Riverside is the hometown of MLB legend Barry Bonds and basketball Hall of Famer Reggie Miller. In contrast, California (PA) is found about 35 miles south of Pittsburgh and has only 5,000-plus residents.

DIMES ADD UP
California Baptist leads the PacWest and ranks fourth in NCAA Division II with 18.5 assists/game this season. Sophomore Kamille Diaz, the 2014 PacWest Freshman of the Year, paces the team and sits fourth in the league with 4.6 assists/game with a season high of 11 assists in the semifinals of the PacWest Tournament. Of note, West Liberty of the Mountain East Conference (MEC), who the Vulcans defeated twice this season, lead the nation with 18.9 assists/game. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Cal U limited West Liberty to just 10 assists.

STEADY MAHADY
Senior forward Emma Mahady has increased her scoring average in each of the last three seasons, reaching a career high of 13.9 points/game this year. She is now tied with Kim Nowakowski (2004-07) for No. 13 in school history with 1,254 career points and is just 12 points shy of passing former teammate Amy Johns (2009-12) for No. 11 on the all-time scoring list.

FACING THE BEST
The Vulcans have played nine games against nationally-ranked teams. Cal U has posted an 8-1 record this season against teams ranked in the USA Today Sports Top 25 poll, including a three wins over teams slotted in the top 10.

500-CLUB
Following play in Wednesday's national semifinals, the Vulcans now boast a pair of players that scored over 500 points this season. Sophomore Miki Glenn ranks ninth in single-season school history with 562 points, while senior Kaitlynn Fratz reached the milestone against Emporia State and has totaled 504 points this year. Cal U last boasted a pair of 500-point scorers in the 2008-09 campaign with former All-American guard Brooque Williams setting the single-season school and PSAC record with 744 points (21.9 points/game).

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 is the top seed in the Atlantic Region, while California Baptist is representing West Region at the Elite Eight after claiming the regional title as the fifth seed.

C-B-U FIREWORKS
California Baptist ranks fourth in the country this season in scoring offense, averaging 79.9 points/game, with fellow PacWest-member Hawaii Pacific leading NCAA Division II at 82.3 points/game. The Lancers have scored over 90 points four times this season, including a season-high 117 points against Fresno Pacific. CBU has accounted for over 30 percent of its scoring this season from beyond the arc, averaging a PacWest-leading 8.1 three-pointers/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 17-2 record and captured both the PSAC and Atlantic Region Championships since senior forward Shanice Clark passed away on Jan. 18 at the age of 21.