MARSHALL, Texas – Headed to their third American Southwest Conference Championship game in six years, East Texas Baptist University will face off against Texas Dallas for the 2023 title. ETBU has played in the championship game in 2018 and 2021.
"We have unfinished business," said head coach Blake Arobgast. "It is going to be a tough fight with a great atmosphere and we look forward to it. I can't say enough about the resilience of this team and Proverbs 16:3 has gotten us through a lot in 'commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established' and first and foremost we are followers of Christ and that's what we are committed to and He's blessed us today."
Arbogast will be coaching in his second ASC Championship game in three years as a head coach. He took ETBU to the championship game in 2021 in Alpine, Texas, where they fell to Mary Hardin-Baylor. He has now won 66 games in three years as head coach and is 5-3 in the post season and 4-2 in the ASC Tournament.
Below are notes on ETBU for the ASC Championship Game.
ASC Championship Game Appearances
Record: 1-1
2023: ETBU vs. Texas Dallas (Abilene, TX)
2021: UMHB 75, ETBU 72 (Alpine, TX)
2018: ETBU 71, UMHB 70 (Richardson, TX)
ETBU won their first and only ASC Championship in 2018 making a post-season run that was magical to the NCAA Division III Elite Eight. It was the first year for new head coach Rusty Rainbolt as he guided ETBU from a #3 seed in the East Division. ETBU defeated Howard Payne, 50-36, and then upset host UTD, 66-61, in the semi-final round. They then took the championship game, 71-70, over UMHB.
ETBU went back to the championship game in 2021 during the CoVID season. They won their first-round game at home over Belhaven, 76-48, and then defeated Sul Ross State in Alpine, 73-56, in the semi-finals. ETBU then fell to UMHB, 75-72, in the championship game for their lone loss in the season finishing at 25-1 in Arbogast's first season as head coach.
ETBU vs. UTD (Post Season)
Record: 2-0
2018: ETBU 66, UTD 61 – semi-final (Richardson, TX)
2018: ETBU 64, UTD 51 – NCAA Tournament Second Round
ETBU and UTD have only met twice in the post season and it came in 2018 in ETBU's run to the Elite Eight. Both wins came in Richardson as upsets in the ASC Tournament semi-final game and the NCAA Tournament second round.
Series vs. UTD
Record: UTD 27, ETBU 21
These two teams have played each other 48 times as UTD leads the series, 27-21. Since 2018, they have met 14 times and UTD has taken eight of the meetings. This year, UTD has won both games and won four out of the last seven. The two previously met on February 18, a week ago, in the final game of the regular season in Richardson as UTD won, 52-51. In Marshall on January 12, UTD won, 71-55. ETBU last won on January 29, 2022, 61-47, in Marshall.
ETBU in Abilene – Post Season Play
ETBU has only played two post season games in Abilene and is 1-1 winning their first one on Friday night.
2023: ETBU 68, UMHB 65
2005: Hardin-Simmons 104, ETBU 50
ETBU vs. Ranked Opponents – 2022-23
The 2022-23 season has been a more difficult one for ETBU as they have faced six ranked opponents going 3-3. They started the season off with a 10-point loss to then #6 Christopher Newport, 63-53, who is now the top ranked team in NCAA Division III. ETBU then lost to Hardin-Simmons, twice, in which the first came on December 3, 81-65, when the Cowgirls were #24. They then faced them on January 19 when they were #15 and lost, 67-56. HSU is currently #8 in the nation.
The three wins came against Mary Hardin-Baylor (2) and UC Santa Cruz. ETBU won on December 10, 66-59, over #10 UMHB and then again on January 26, 67-61, when they were #22. UC Santa Cruz was #18 on January 3 when ETBU won on a neutral site in Belton, Texas, 75-51. Neither of the teams are ranked now but both are in the regional rankings.
Regional Rankings
ETBU is currently fifth in the newest NCAA Division III Region 10 rankings this week. They are ahead of UMHB (#6) and UC Santa Cruz (#7). Colorado College is ahead of ETBU in fourth with an 18-7 record while Puget Sound is third at 19-4. Hardin-Simmons is second with a 23-2 record while Trinity is number one at 24-1.
Last week, ETBU was ranked fourth in the rankings. Last year, ETBU came in third in the regional rankings making their second NCAA Tournament appearance in four years.
2020-21 ETBU Team
There are several members of this year's team that were a part of the 2020-21 season where ETBU went 25-1 with a perfect regular season at 23-0. Members playing on this year's team that were on the team two years ago are
Kaia Williams,
Kenidi White,
Erin Berry,
Bridget Upton,
Brooke Webster, and
Mollie Dittmar. It was the first time that ETBU had a perfect regular season and finished ranked #2 in the nation.
Team Bullet Points
- Second straight year as #2 seed in the ASC Tournament
- Sixth straight 20-win season
- Blake Arbogast is 65-13 as a head coach in three seasons at ETBU
- ETBU has received votes in the national poll for 10 weeks
- ETBU is 3-3 vs. nationally ranked teams this year and #4 in the most recent regional ranking
- ETBU has the second best defense in the ASC allowing just 57.2 ppg behind UTD's 53.4
- Mollie Dittmar is 10th in the ASC in rebounding at 6.2 per game
- Jade Goynes leads the team in scoring at 14.2 ppg and has two double-doubles on the year
- Dittmar has three double-doubles on the year posting one vs. UMHB in the ASC Tournament with 13 points and 11 rebounds
