DELAWARE, Ohio - February 22, 2022 – Hiram women's basketball will open the 2022 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Women's Basketball Tournament as the No. 6 seed and travel to Delaware, Ohio for a matchup against the No. 3-seeded Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m.
 
The Terriers, in their fifth season under Head Women's Basketball Coach Alex Dellas `10, wrapped up the regular season 8-16 (4-12 NCAC) and by virtue of a tiebreaker over Kenyon College, earned the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament.
 
Hiram opened the 2021-22 campaign with an 89-83 overtime win against Waynesburg on Nov. 5 and picked up non-conference wins along the way against Alfred State, Defiance and Kalamazoo before wrapping up the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 19 with a 72-71 win at Kenyon College.
 
The win against the Ladies clinched the Terriers the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament, as Hiram had the best-combined record against teams above the Terriers and Ladies in the conference standings.
 
"It is always exciting to be playing tournament games at the end of the season!" Dellas said, "Tournament play is tough, and Ohio Wesleyan has been a strong opponent, but we really like how we have been playing in the second half of conference play. We have battled through a lot of adversity this season and are closing games with a lot of energy and focus."
 
Hiram ended the regular season winning five of their last 10, including a three-game stretch that included conference wins over Allegheny and Wooster, a five-point loss to Wittenberg and a non-conference win at Defiance.
 
Senior guard Madison Branch has led the way for the Terriers this season, averaging a team-high 12.7 points and 3.8 assists per game. The Avon Lake, Ohio native became the ninth student-athlete in Hiram women's basketball to join the 1,000-point club earlier this year, and recently surpassed Mercedes Jones `17 for eighth in scoring in program history.
 
Sophomore Maddie Rakestraw joins Branch in the starting backcourt, averaging 7.9 points per game, while junior Taylor Valaitis and senior Ella Dukarm have seen ample playing time off the bench, combining for just under eight points, three rebounds and a steal per game.
 
In the frontcourt, junior Haley Thompson is second on the team with 11.9 points per game, adding 6.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game.
 
Sophomore Selena Vargas leads the Terriers on the glass with 8.9 rebounds per game, third-most in the conference, while Cici Bright has been a steady post-presence for the Terriers, averaging 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
 
Iyana Smith, Alex Lichner, Lyndsey Stocks and Kelsie Gaiser have all seen significant minutes off the bench in Hiram's frontcourt, with both Lichner and Smith tallying double-digit scoring performances this season.
 
As a team, Hiram shoots 37.2 percent from the field, 22.6 percent from three and 71.7 percent from the free-throw line, while opponents have shot 40.0 percent from the field.
 
Hiram ranks fifth in the conference in scoring, sixth in rebounding and fourth in offensive rebounds.
 
The Terriers will face the Battling Bishops for the third time this season, having fallen in their first two matchups.
 
The Battling Bishops, in their 11th season under Stacey Ungashick Lobdell, are led by a trio of scorers in double figures, with senior Cierra Joiner averaging a team-high 16.0 points per game, the second-best scoring average in the conference.
 
Joiner also leads OWU on the glass with 7.8 rebounds per game, while sophomore Elizabeth Homan's notched a team-high 3.7 assists per game.
 
As a team, Ohio Wesleyan averages 68.3 points per game on 43.4 percent shooting and 33.8 percent from beyond the arc. The Battling Bishops rank third in the NCAC in scoring, seventh in rebounding and third in scoring defense.
 
The Terriers will face the No. 3-seeded Battling Bishops in the NCAC Quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. inside Branch Rickey Arena in Delaware, Ohio.
 
"We are looking forward to getting back on the road and playing our best basketball!" Dellas said.
 
Should Hiram pull off the upset, the Terriers would play the winner of No. 2 Oberlin vs. No. 7 Kenyon on Friday, Feb. 25 in the NCAC Semifinals, with the 2022 NCAC Women's Basketball Tournament Championship slated for Saturday, Feb. 26.