WAVERLY, Iowa-- Wartburg (21-7 overall) travels to face No. 8/9 St. Thomas (26-3) Friday at 8 p.m. in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Tournament in St. Paul. The Tommies enter the weekend on a 16-game winning streak. George Fox and Texas-Tyler will play in the first game of the day at 5:30 p.m. Friday's winners advance to the Elite Eight game Saturday at 7 p.m.



The Series
St. Thomas did play in Wartburg's Holiday Tournament, but the teams did not meet there. They do share a common opponent in UW-Oshkosh as both teams defeated the Titans.

The Tommies hold the all-time series lead at 3-0 as the last meeting was in St. Paul on Dec. 19, 2014 where the home team won 78-50.

Of note, the first time these programs met was in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 1999, again at St. Thomas.



Tickets
Adults: $10 per day
Students: $5 per day
Note: Only cash will be accepted at the ticket windows.

Credit cards will be accepted at the merchandise area.

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Wartburg
Senior Kailey Kladivo (Traer) leads the team with 14.6 PPG and 7.6 rebounds per game. Sophomore Katie Sommer (Cedar Rapids) joins her in double digits with 11.4 PPG and has a team-high 120 assists. She is two shy of tying the single game school record in this category.

St. Thomas
Kaitlin Langer leads the Tommies with 17.6 PPG. Gabby Zehrer and Katie Stone follow with 13.6 PPG each. Langer nearly averages a double-double with her team-best 9.1 rebounds/game.

St. Thomas won the MIAC Tournament to receive the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Tommies defeated Loras in overtime, 76-68 in the First Round and UW-River Falls 67-46 in the Second Round last weekend.

National Stat Rankings
The women's basketball team (21-7) is ranked within the top 100 in 16 categories, as released by the NCAA on Tuesday.
 
The Knights are ranked 18^th in three-point field goals made (207), 20^th in three-point field-goal percentage (35.0), 23^rd in three-point field goals per game (7.4), 27^th in defensive rebounds per game (30), 30^th in assist to turnover ratio (1.04), 33^rd in field-goal percentage (42.4), 43^rd in assists (422), 44^th in three-point field goals attempted (592), 56^th in final points (1,927), 59^th in assists per game (15.1), 60^th in scoring margin (10.6), 63^rd in won-lost percentage (75.0), 68^th in fewest turnovers (406), 74^th in field-goal percentage defense (34.8), 75^th in scoring offense (68.8) and 98^th in free throws made (362).
 
Individually, three Knights are ranked within the top 100 in eight statistical categories. Senior Bobbie Burrows (Bondurant) is ranked 38^th in three-point field goals made (67), 58^th in three-point field goals attempted (185), 70^th in three-point field goals per game (2.39) and 75^th in three-point field-goal percentage (36.2). Classmate Kailey Kladivo (Traer) is ranked 60^th in field-goal percentage (50.2). Sophomore Katie Sommer (Cedar Rapids) is ranked 55^th in minutes played (948:00) and assists (120) and 76^th in assists per game (4.3). 

Wartburg in the NCAA Tournament:
Wartburg vs. Augustana, 1989, First-round, L 74-93
Wartburg vs. Milliken, 1989, Regional Third Place, W 97-75
Wartburg vs. Augustana, 1990, First-round, W 72-57
Wartburg vs. Buena Vista, 1990, Regional Finals, L 63-78
Wartburg vs. Luther, 1991, Regionals, L 54-78
Wartburg vs. Wis.-Stout, 1992, Regionals, W 90-72
Wartburg vs. St. Benedict, 1992, Sectional Semifinals, W 74-64
Wartburg vs. Luther, 1992, Sectional Finals, L 61-70
Wartburg vs. Washington-St. Louis, 1993, Regionals, W 75-60
Wartburg vs. Wis.-Whitewater, 1993, Sectional Semifinals, W 83-77
Wartburg vs. Central, 1993, Sectional Finals, L 60-62
Wartburg vs. Aurora, 1994, First-round, L 57-61
Wartburg vs. St. Thomas, 1999, First-round, L 41-67
Wartburg vs. Chapman, 2001, First-round, W 86-78
Wartburg vs. Neb. Wesleyan, 2001, Second-round, W 85-71
Wartburg vs. Fontbonne, 2001, Sectional Semifinals, W 82-78
Wartburg vs. Washington-St. Louis, 2001, Sectional Finals, L 71-83
Wartburg vs. Carleton, 2002, First-round, L 61-71
Wartburg vs. Wisconsin Lutheran, 2016, First-round, W, 65-49
Wartburg vs. #11/16 UW-Oshkosh, 2016, Second-round, W 66-56
Wartburg vs. #8 St. Thomas, 2016, Sweet Sixteen, TBD