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Cedarville Magazine
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Lady Jackets Score a Spectacular Season of Historic Firsts
The Lady Jackets basketball team hit a trey
of successes their third season in NCAA
Division II.
They received their first invitation to
the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional
Tournament. The No. 8 seed Lady Jackets
faced host and top-seed Michigan Tech in
the first round at Michigan Tech’s home
court. They played hard, hitting almost 50
percent of their shots, and kept it close deep
into the second half. But the host Huskies
pulled away at the end for the 71-59 victory.
Cedarville finished the year at 27-4.
During the season, the Lady Jackets
cracked the NCAA Division II Top 25
for the first time, landing at No. 23 in the
February 10, 2015,
USA TODAY
Sports
Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches
Poll. By February 24, they jumped to a
tie for No. 22 with the University of the
District of Columbia. By the time of the
Division II tournament, they had risen to
sole possession of No. 17.
The Lady Jackets finished the regular
season 25-3 overall. They were Great
Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC)
regular season champions with a
15-1 record. They hosted the G-MAC
tournament andwon it all, beatingKentucky
Wesleyan 63-52 in the championship game
and were extended an at-large bid to the
Division II Midwest Regional. G-MAC
will automatically advance its tournament
champion to the tourney in 2016.
Head Coach Kirk Martin’s teamwon 11
consecutive games leading up to its first Top
25 ranking. By that point in February, the
Lady Jackets were 21-2 overall and 11-0 in
the G-MAC.
“We’re excited about what’s happened,”
saidMartin ’76. “The thing about this group
is just how committed they are to getting
it done and being successful. When we’ve
needed something special to happen, this
just seems to be the year that it’s happened
for us.”
One of the keys to the team’s success was
the development of the younger players.
“We had seven freshmen, and we played
four to five of them a lot of minutes,” Martin
said. “But, the reality is, we had a lot of
experience coming back. We’ve had great
leadership from our six juniors and seniors.
They set a standard for our freshmen; they
bought into it, and we just watched them
grow by leaps and bounds every single
game. The upperclassmen and freshmen
pushed each other every night in practice.”
The whole team demonstrated a no-
holds-barred attitude all season. “It’s tough
mentally for an athlete to run through the
wall for her teammates and coaching staff,”
noted Martin. “This group does that, and
I’m proud of them.”
But they also showed attention to the
details. “Because of the fact we shoot free
throws quite well, we had the opportunity
to win a lot of close games,” Martin said.
“I’m also blessed with an unbelievable
staff — Kari (Flunker) Hoffman ’05, Stacie
Travis ’07, and Steve Buettell ’14.”
For the Lady Jackets basketball
team, this season is another remarkable
chapter in a winning history. They won
the National Christian College Athletic
Association (NCCAA) Division II National
Championship in 2008. They earned
National Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics (NAIA) Division II national
runner-up in 2004 and 2005. They reached
the NAIA Division II Final Four in 2007
and the Elite Eight in 2006 and 2011.
The Lady Jackets basketball team won G-MAC regular-season and tournament titles on their run to a first-ever trip to
the NCAA Division II Tournament.