Women's Basketball to Face Valley City State in Opening Round

Sterling, Kan. - The Sterling College Lady Warriors have drawn the Vikings of Valley City State University from North Dakota. Valley City State is the Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) Tournament Champion with an overall record of 23-8 and is currently ranked at no. 19 in the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll. Sterling is the four seed in the fourth bracket and will play on Wednesday, March 9 at 9:15 pm at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. The game will be available on HKFM as well as on The Sterling College Sports Network as an audio broadcast.

Valley City State is coached by Jill DeVries in her 12th year with the school. DeVries was voted the 2010-2011 DAC Coach of the Year.

The Vikings are led by Amanda Brown, a 5'9" senior from Limon, Colorado. During the season, Brown has averaged 12.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists and was named First Team All-DAC. Brown is an extremely versatile player. Watch for her to possibly play all five positions on the floor.

Caitlyn Wojahn is another player to watch on VCSU. Wojahn is a 5'2" senior guard from Milbank, South Dakota and is the defensive leader for the Vikings. Wojahns averages 9.3 points per game and is ranked 45th in Division II Women's Basketball with 71 total steals, an average of 2.3 per game.

Kristen Bearstail is the third player to watch for Valley City State. Bearstail is the deep threat for the Vikings, making 68 three point field goals on the year and averaging 12.2 points per game.

Look for the Vikings to put heavy pressure on the Lady Warriors and attempt to force Sterling into turning the ball over as VCSU is ranked 39th in the nation in steals per game with 10.4. Valley City State's strengths are on the defensive side of the court where the Vikings allow only 59.3 points per game and are ranked 24th in the nation in defensive rebounds and 42nd in the nation in field goal percentage defense.

Sterling will counter with an even stronger defense as the Lady Warriors rank 2nd in the nation in scoring defense allowing only 54.5 points per game and