The Lowdown: No. 11 seed Hastings College at No. 6 seed Friends University
* NAIA Women's Basketball First Round
Location: Garvey Center
When: Friday, Mar. 13 @ 2 pm
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Flying with the Falcons: The No. 21-ranked Friends University Falcons are a No. 6 seed in the Naismith Quadrant of the NAIA National Championship Tournament and bring a 24-6 overall record into postseason play. The Falcons finished tied for second in the KCAC with a 17-5 league record before falling 54-42 to Tabor College in the KCAC tournament semifinal round. This is the first NAIA postseason appearance for the Falcons since the 2017-18 season.
Prior to her injury, Rayland Garner led the Falcons in scoring (18.6 ppg), rebounding (7.7 rpg) and steals (2.4 spg). Lauryn McIver is averaging a solid stat line of 15.7 ppg, 6.4 rebounds and a team-high 5.4 assists. Katie Weiss has hit a team-leading 68 threes and Abigail Barr is third on the team in scoring (14.8 ppg) and is shooting a team-best 60.5 percent from the field.
As a team, the Falcons are scoring 75.9 points per game while allowing 67.5 points per game.
Scouting the Broncos: The Hastings College Broncos are 22-8 overall and finished tied for third in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) with a 17-5 mark. The Broncos also fell in their conference tournament semifinals 86-68 to Dakota Wesleyan that snapped their six-game winning streak.
Bailey Kissinger is leading the Broncos in scoring with 13.3 ppg and is also tops on the team in rebounding (5.9 rpg). McKenna Yates is second in scoring (13.2 ppg) and first on the Broncos in assists (3.7 apg). Displaying a balanced scoring attack, the Broncos are also getting double-figure scoring from Ann Bose (12.2 ppg), Mariyah Avila (10.9 ppg) and Josilyn Miller (10.6 ppg) this season.
The Broncos are the fourth highest scoring team in the NAIA this year at 88.6 ppg.
The Series: The Falcons have split 10 games with the Broncos since 2007 after prevailing in double-overtime 104-102 at home earlier this season (Nov. 5). Friends is 2-3 vs. Hastings in five meetings in Wichita during that stretch.
Promo Depot: We are proud to have Promo Depot as a sponsor of Friends University Athletics this season! Click HERE for more info on the services Promo Depot can offer!
Kansas Army National Guard: We are thrilled to have the Kansas Army National Guard on board with us this year as an official sponsor! Click HERE to visit their website.
Let's Run it Back: The NAIA First Round game between the Falcons and Broncos will be a rematch of a double-overtime classic played in Wichita earlier this season (Nov. 5). Friends got a career-high tying 31 points from Lauryn McIver and found a way to win 104-102 in a game that featured 13 ties and 16 lead changes. Read the full recap HERE of a game that felt like a postseason clash that only served to set the table for what WILL be a postseason clash on Friday!
Additional NAIA Postseason Action in Wichita: The opening NAIA First Round game inside the Garvey on Friday will pit third-seeded Corban (Ore.) against 14th-seeded Texas A&M-San Antonio at noon. Corban is 26-5 overall and 16-5 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, including winning the conference tourney championship 57-38 over Lewis-Clark State College. Corban is led in both scoring and assists by Jersey Huerta with 18.5 ppg and 3.9 apg. Jenna Albrecht is averaging 13.8 ppg, while Emilia Bishop is scoring 10.8 ppg along with a team-high 7.9 rpg. Texas A&M-San Antonio is 23-8 overall and went 18-4 in the Red River Athletic Conference, falling to regular season champion LSU-Shreveport 64-59 in the conference championship game that halted a five-game winning streak. Evelyn Lorenzo is first on Texas A&M-San Antonio in both scoring (13.0 ppg) and assists (3.8 apg) this season. Kierra Sanderlin is second in scoring (11.4 ppg) and Talaiyah Andrews is leading the team with 5.3 rebounds per game.
Assisting History: Senior guard Lauryn McIver recorded five assists in a victory over Southwestern College (Feb. 18) to set a new modern-era career assists record (385) for the Falcons. This adds to McIver's historic senior campaign as the Phoenix, Ariz. native set a new single-season assist mark (144) in a win over McPherson College (Feb. 14) and broke her own single-game assist record with 12 helpers in an 84-67 victory over Avila University earlier this season on Jan. 31. McIver is now sitting on 399 career assists.
70 or Below: The Falcons have won 16 of 18 games when holding the opposition under the 70-point mark this season, with the KCAC semifinal loss to Tabor being only the second time all season the Falcons have lost when limiting the opposition under 70 points.
Boarding School: The Falcons are 18-1 when leading in rebounding but are 6-5 when trailing on the boards.
Make it Make Sense: It's Basketball 101 that it's hard to win when losing the turnover battle, but the Falcons have defied that logic all year. Friends is 12-2 this season when committing more turnovers than the opposition.
Make or Miss League: The Falcons are 23-1 when leading in field-goal percentage but have lost all five games when the opposition shoots a better percentage from the floor.
2 X 1000: Senior guard Lauryn McIver scored 16 points at Oklahoma Wesleyan (Jan. 10) to join teammate Rayland Garner as the ninth member of the modern era to reach 1,000 career points for the Women's Basketball Falcons. Garner reached the mark earlier this season, also against Oklahoma Wesleyan (Nov. 19).
Falcons by the Numbers
Overall record: 24-6
KCAC: 17-5
Home: 12-4
Road: 12-2
Neutral: 0-0
When scoring:
Under 50 points: 0-2
50-59 points: 1-1
60-69 points: 4-2
70-79 points: 4-0
80-89 points: 11-1
90+ points: 4-0
When allowing:
Under 50 points: 2-0
50-59 points: 2-2
60-69 points: 12-0
70-79 points: 6-3
80-89 points: 1-0
90+ points: 1-1
When leading at halftime: 15-2
When trailing at halftime: 9-4
When tied at halftime: 0-0
When committing fewer turnovers: 9-3
When committing more turnovers: 12-2
When turnovers are even: 3-1
When leading in field-goal percentage: 23-1
When trailing in field-goal percentage: 0-5
When field-goal percentage is even: 1-0
When leading in three-point percentage: 14-1
When trailing in three-point percentage: 9-4
When three-point percentage is even: 1-1
When leading in rebounding: 18-1
When trailing in rebounding: 6-5
When rebounding is even: 0-0
When leading in assists: 17-1
When trailing in assists: 5-4
When assists are even: 2-1
In OT: 1-0
The Coaches:
Dean Jaderston is in his seventh season at the helm of the Friends University women's basketball program. The Falcon women's basketball program has seen considerable growth under his leadership both on and off the court and has now reached the NAIA National Championship tournament for the first time since 2017-18. Their consistency and competitiveness have led to a 105-49 record over the past five years, including two trips to the KCAC championship game in the past four seasons.
Jaderston brought a wealth of experience to Friends University, having coached for over 30 years (24 years in college and 13 years in high school). On December 13, 2022, he recorded his 300th career collegiate win vs. Tabor College.
As a men's basketball coach Jaderston was a two-time KCAC Coach of the Year. He coached six NAIA All-America performers during his tenure at Sterling College. He also led his teams to two KCAC championships and one KCAC tournament championship.
Prior to taking over at Sterling, Jaderston served in the dual role of men's basketball head coach and assistant athletic director at Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL for five seasons.
Before entering the college ranks, he spent eight seasons as both the head girls' basketball and head girls' and boys' tennis coach at Rosemount High School in Rosemount, MN, and 4 years as the head boys' basketball coach at Eastview High School in Apple Valley, MN.
As an athlete Jaderston was a successful college basketball player at Crown College in St. Bonifacius, MN. He was a four-time all-conference selection while helping the team advance to four national tournaments. He also earned All-America and Academic All-America during his college career. He also competed in tennis for three years at Crown and was a two-time conference singles and three-time conference doubles champion. In 2024 he was inducted into the Crown College Athletic Hall of Fame.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History/Secondary Education from Crown College in 1989 and then completed a Master of Arts in Adlerian Counseling and Psychotherapy from Adler Graduate School in 1998.
Jaderston and his wife Julie have been married for 38 years. They also currently serve as executive directors of a premier summer Christian family conference called Northern Pines of Minnesota. They have three married sons and nine grandchildren.
Jina Douglas is in her 12th season as head coach of the Hastings College women's basketball program. She has now guided the Broncos to the NAIA National Tournament in seven of her 11 seasons at the helm.
Prior to Hastings, Douglas coached at the University of Dallas and led the program to their most winning seasons in school history.
Douglas also has had assistant coaching stops at Augustana College, Southwest Minnesota State University along with a graduate assistant coach position at South Dakota State University.
Collegiately, Douglas played three years at the University of Nebraska and earned Big 12 Honorable Mention honors during her senior season
Up Next: A win over Hastings would put the Falcons in the NAIA Second Round on Saturday at 2 pm against the winner of Corban/Texas A&M-San Antonio with a berth in the Round of 16 in Sioux City, Iowa on the line.
NAIA National Championship Bracket
NAIA Women's Basketball First and Second Round Page
