CHICAGO – The Mount Mary University women's basketball team has their final game of the 2016-17 season tonight. Senior Jess Runge (Freedom, Wis.) and Ariel Oviedo (Shawano, Wis.) will don their Blue Angels jerseys for the final time tonight as they head to Chicago to play Illinois Tech (1-18) at 6:00 pm.
The Scarlet Hawks have had a long season, but Illinois Tech has kept a strong strength of schedule throughout the 2016-17 season playing over 75 percent of their games against NCAA Division III teams. However, their one win of the season is against Moody Bible Institute (0-9) of the National Christian College Athletic Association.
This season, the Scarlet Hawks are averaging 39.3 points per game while shooting 24.7 percent from the field. Perhaps a product of that percentage, the Scarlet Hawks average 5.5 more rebounds per contest than the Blue Angels who pull in 32.7 rebounds per game.
MMU is averaging 55.9 points per game while shooting 36.4 percent from the floor to this point in the season.
Jess Runge has been on a serious hot-streak scoring a combined 89 points in her last four games; Runge has 388 career points at MMU. Most recently, the senior dropped 33 points to set her single game scoring record. Against Andrews University (4-16), Runge hit 12-of-19 shots from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
Runge's accuracy now has her second in the Association of Division III Independents in field goal percentage at 50.3 percent and first in the association in 3-point percentage at 45.1.
Both teams will look to take care of the ball as best they can, as the proclivity of both teams to steal the ball is high. MMU averages 9.9 steals per game, with three players in the top 10 of the AD3I in that category: Runge, Oviedo and Becky Onan (Jr./Grafton, Wis.). The Scarlet Hawks take away 7.2 steals per game with Kaylee Wicka leading the defense with 1.8 of those steals.
Watch the Blue Angels final game of the season tonight at the Keating Sports Center beginning at 6:00 pm. Those who cannot travel to Chicago can watch the game at mtmaryathletics.com or click here closer to game time.
