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GREAT FALLS, Mont. – A trip to the 2018 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championship could be on the line for the (RV) University of Providence women's basketball team in the squad's first round game of the Frontier Conference playoffs. Conventional wisdom has the Lady Argos on the bubble of an at-large bid to nationals and the home game on Wednesday, February 28 against Lewis-Clark State College could be the difference.

The Lady Argos enter the conference postseason as the 4-seed and draw a tough opponent in 5-seed and defending conference champions LC State. Just like UP, the Warriors have been in and out of the national rankings during 2017-18 but lost three of their last five games in the regular season.

Of the three games the two teams have played against each other, UP won two, including one at home and one on the road. That being said, LCSC took the most recent meeting, beating the Lady Argos in Lewiston, Idaho 58-51.

UP has matched up well offensively against LC State. Against the Warriors in 2017-18, the Lady Argos scored above their season average of 65 ppg, twice with point totals of 74 and 73 points. Both of UP's leading scorers, senior guard Stephanie McDonagh and freshman post Parker Esary scored right around their season averages in the three games, while freshman point guard Emilee Maldonado has played particularly well against the Warriors.

She is averaging 13.6 ppg against LC State, 4 points more than her season average, and only has 4 total turnovers in the three games. Her play is particularly important as she matches up with LCSC's own freshman point guard Peyton Souvenir who ranks 14th in the NAIA in Assists per Game (4.621 apg). Maldonado ranks 29th in that same category.

Souvenir is the head of a fast-paced, team-oriented LC State offense that ranks 8th in NAIA Division I in Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.105) and 10th in Assists per Game (16.034 apg). UP has had success flipping those numbers, forcing the Warriors into more turnovers than assists when the teams have faced, including 47 total turnovers in the three games.

If the Lady Argos win the game, they'll move on to the second round of the Frontier Conference playoffs and clearly establish themselves as one of the top four teams in a conference that usually sends four teams to the national tournament. A loss, however, would give the selection committee a first round playoff exit against an unranked team as a final impression.

That game will be played inside the McLaughlin Center where the Lady Argos are 10-5 on the year and will tipoff at 7 p.m. In accordance with the Frontier Conference bylaws, adult tickets will be $7, with $5 tickets for attendees ages 5-18 and children under 5 for free. McDonalds is generously sponsoring free entry to the first 200 UP students who present their student ID upon entry.