MARSHALL, Texas – Entering the NCAA Division III National Tournament for the first time, the East Texas Baptist University women's basketball will be playing on a familiar court at the University of Texas Dallas. ETBU has played their last four games at the UTD Rec center claiming the American Southwest Conference Tournament Championship and the national tournament automatic berth.

"We aren't done yet. The Lord is not done with us yet," says head coach Rusty Rainbolt. "This has just been an amazing year and since I have been here we have been trying to build this program on the foundation of Jesus Christ. I am thankful for the adversity we have gone through the last four or five weeks as a team as it has really solidified us as a team that we are truly doing this for the Lord."

ETBU enters the NCAA Tournament with a 22-6 record and a three-game winning streak after winning the ASC Championship. They face #19 Whitman College from the Northwest Conference who is 22-4 and received an at-large bid to the tournament on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. The winner will take on the winner of the Trinity University/Texas Dallas game at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night.

ETBU
Winning 22 games, which is the most since 2006-07, ties the most wins in the NCAA Division III era. The 1998-99 team recorded 28 wins prior to joining NCAA Division III. The first ASC Championship for the program comes in Rainbolt's first year as the head coach. Rainbolt came to ETBU last March to turn the program around after a 3-22 season in 2016-17.

ETBU is led by All-ASC performer Kim Childress. She averages 14.2 points per game and shoots .500 from the floor. Madison McCoy, who was the ASC Tournament MVP, is second on the team at 8.9 points per game and leads the team with 114 assists. ETBU averages 68 points per game and holds teams to 59.1 points per game. They also shoot 42% from the floor, 33 % from three-point range (181 made), and 67 % from the foul line.

The program's start in the NCAA Division III era also happened this year starting out 13-1. The one loss came to Whitworth College from the Northwest Conference. In the final eight games of the regular season, ETBU went 4-4 and at one point was in first place in the ASC East. They finished the season third in the ASC East at 13.5.

Whitman
Whitman has lost three out of their last four games falling in the NWC Tournament semi-finals, 55-52, to Willamette. They won their first game in the NWC Tournament over Linfield, 82-71. Ending the regular season on a two-game skid, they fell to George Fox, 80-68, and Willamette, 62-55. In the NWC, they finished the regular season at 14-2 in second place behind George Fox University. They are led by Casey Poe's 17 points per game. Makena Stone averages 12.5 points per game and Emily Rommel 10.4 points per game.

The team shoots 47% from the floor and holds opponents to just 38% shooting. They have made 140 three-pointers (34 %) and shoot 70 % from the foul line. They have forced 424 turnovers and have 1.1 assists/turnover ratio. They average 75 points per game and give up just 59.5 points per game. Out rebounding opponents by 10, they average 40.2 rebounds per game.

Common Opponents
There are two common opponents in Schreiner University and Whitworth College. ETBU defeated Schreiner 71-57 while Whitman won 93-47. ETBU then faced Whitworth once in Ornelas Gym falling 72-66. Whitman won both games against Whitworth in the NWC, 101-68, and 83-49.

Rainbolt in the NCAA Tournament
This is not the first time that head coach Rusty Rainbolt has been in the NCAA Tournament. He guided Concordia University-Texas to the 2012 NCAA Division III Tournament. In that tournament, Concordia-Texas fell to #10 Lewis and Clark, 83-65, in the first round.

ETBU will make their first appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday night in Richardson, Texas, at 6:00 p.m.