Women's Basketball | 3/1/2017 5:46:00 PM

TULSA, Okla. – St. Edward's women's basketball clinched the Heartland Conference Regular Season Championship and is ready to begin its tournament run, starting with the conference awards reception Wednesday at the Marriott Southern Hills.
 
The Hilltoppers finished their regular season with a record of 17-8 overall and 13-3 in the conference. They open the tournament against No. 8 seed Texas A&M-International, Thursday at noon inside the Union Multipurpose Activity Center.
 
Live video and stats of the game will be available at GoHilltoppers.com. Tickets are available at the doors. A preview of the tournament and full notes are available below.
 
Full Game Notes
 
CONSISTENCY OF A SAINT: As head coach, J.J. Riehl has never missed a Heartland Conference Tournament...The only other team in the 2016-17 field to make five straight tourneys is St. Mary's...Over that span, Riehl is 4-3 with two tournament final appearances, a tournament title and a postseason berth...the Rattlers also have one tournament title to their name...the Hilltoppers beat St. Mary's in the finals in 2013-14.
 
GOING STREAKIN': After starting the season with a 2-5 record, the Hilltoppers won nine straight games, including a exhibition win over NCAA Division I, Texas State...since Dec. 3, St. Edward's is 16-3 overall and 10-0 at home...the last time SEU won more than eight straight games was the 1996-97 season when it won 13 straight to close the season.
 
MAKING HISTORY: St. Edward's women's basketball has found the record book multiple times this season...the 2016-17 Hilltoppers are the first in program history to win an outright Heartland Conference regular season title...LEXI FATHEREE broke the program record for free throw percentage, going 14-of-14 against UA Fort Smith at home...the Hilltoppers set the team record for free throw percentage, going 21-of-21 from the line at Lubbock Christian...Coach Riehl tied the school record for most conference wins (13) and set the program record for most Heartland wins in a single season.
 
ACROSS NCAA DIVISION II: Heading into the tournament, St. Edward's is ranked in the top 15 in two different categories and the top 100 in eight categories ...the Hilltoppers are seventh in the nation in total fewest turnovers and 11th in turnovers per game...St. Edward's turnover margin of +3.92 and total fouls (409) rank in the top 50...assist to turnover ratio, scoring defense, 3-point FG defense, and win-loss percentage all slide into the top 100 in the country.
 
SO LITTLE TIME, SO MANY WINS: Head Coach J.J. Riehl is the quickest coach in St. Edward's history to reach 40 Heartland Conference victories...she is just four Heartland wins shy of the program record of 52...she also sits second in St. Edward's history for overall winning percentage at .558.
 
CLASSROOM SUCCESS: In the fall St. Edward's Athletics named a school-record 194 student-athletes to the Heartland Conference Honor Rolls...A total of 10 women's basketball players were included in the list...out of the 10, seven were named to the President's Honor Roll which requires a grade-point average of 3.5 or better.
 
POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE: While no active player has appeared in a NCAA or NAIA Tournament, the coaching staff is chalk full of experience...graduate assistant coach Jaimie Kadlecek played on the 2013-14 tournament team...coach Riehl coached the 2013-14 team, and also played on the 1998-99 NAIA tournament team.
 
For the latest information on the St. Edward's University Women's Basketball team, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @SEUWBasketball, or visit us at www.GoHilltoppers.com.