Wingate Women’s Basketball Team Arrives In Nebraska For Elite Eight

KEARNEY, Neb. -- The Wingate University women's basketball team arrived in Kearney Monday at 12 noon CDT. The Bulldogs flew in style on a charter jet from the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. Freshman guards CC Brooks (Mount Holly, N.C.) and Emily Parrish (Brevard, N.C.) experienced their first flights today.

Before the flight departed from Charlotte, sophomore center Stacie Rhodes (Raleigh, N.C.) led the 20-person Wingate traveling party in prayer. The three-person flight crew ferried the Bulldogs to the St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia, Ill. After the stop for fuel, the team completed the journey to Kearney.

After lunch at Quizno's, the team ventured to Kearney Catholic High School for a 75-minute practice. Wingate head coach Barbara Nelson and vice-president and director of athletics Steve Poston will attend a coaches and administrators meeting tonight at 8 p.m. CDT.

The Bulldogs will have a full day of activities on Tuesday. Wingate will have a 90-minute practice at the University of Nebraska-Kearney Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. CDT. In addition, each of the Elite Eight teams will participate in a community engagement activity Tuesday.

The Wingate women's basketball team will visit Kenwood Elementary School in Kearney Tuesday afternoon. Ten local elementary schools and their teachers have incorporated the Elite Eight into their lesson plans as the teams have made preparations for the big event. Wingate and the other seven teams will share with the elementary students about goals and hard work. The children from Kenwood Elementary will provide the Bulldogs with a fan base during the Elite Eight event.

Coach Nelson will participate in the Elite Eight press conference at 4:15 p.m. CDT at the University of Nebraska, Kearney Health & Sports Center. At 7 p.m. CDT, Wingate and the other seven teams will take part in the Banquet of Champions (also on the UNK campus).

The champions of the South Atlantic Regional, Wingate enters its third Elite Eight in 2008. The Bulldogs advanced to the Elite Eight in 1995 and 1996 in Fargo, N.D. Wingate is one of only two South Atlantic Conference institutions to advance to the Elite Eight.

Mars Hill College won the South Atlantic Regional title in 2002. The Lions lost to eventual national champion Cal Poly Pomona 88-69 in the 2002 national quarter-finals in Rochester, Minn. In 1996, Wingate dropped a 78-64 national quarter-final decision to Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. In 1995, Portland State (Ore.) University topped the Bulldogs 82-69 in the same round.

The eight teams in this year's Elite Eight have made a combined 86 appearances in the NCAA Division II national tournament. Four of the eight teams have earned at least one national title.

Delta State (Miss.) University leads the way with 20 NCAA appearances. DSU has three national titles (1989, 1990 and 1992) and 12 Elite Eight appearances. Northern Kentucky University (Wingate's first-round opponent) is next with 17 NCAA appearances. NKU won the national title in 2000. The Norse finished second in 2003.

Washburn (Kan.) University and California University of Pennsylvania also hold one national title each. Among this year's Elite Eight group, the Washburn Blues are next on the appearances chart with 12 NCAA Division II tournament visits. Washburn won the crown in 2005.

Wingate leads the South Atlantic Conference with 10 appearances in the NCAA Division II national tournament (counting this year). Wingate has an overall NCAA tourney record of 14-9 with Elite Eight appearances in 1995, 1996 and 2008.

Overall, the Bulldogs have won four of the last five SAC regular season crowns and 10 total titles. In addition, Wingate has six Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament championships.

The other schools in the Elite Eight (with number of NCAA Division II tournament appearances in parenthesis) are: the University of South Dakota (eight), the University of Alaska-Anchorage (seven), California (Pa.) (seven) and Franklin Pierce (N.H.) University (five). California (Pa.) won its national title in 2004.