Maranatha Baptist Bible College (3-20, 0-16 LMC), the No. 9 seed, will travel to Milwaukee to take on No. 8 Alverno College (5-20, 3-13) Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Alverno has won two of their last four games, including a 59-53 victory at Maranatha on February 2. The Inferno also won the teams' first meeting of the season, 55-38, on January 14 in Milwaukee. Maranatha has lost their last five games, and their last win came on January 28 at Moody Bible Institute by a score of 55-43.

The winner will advance to the LMC tournament quarterfinals this Friday, February 17 at 7:00 p.m. The No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds will host their respective games, and the remaining higher seed will host each game throughout the tournament.

Lakeland College, the No. 1 seed, will host the Alverno/Maranatha winner. The Muskies (18-7, 13-3) won their seventh Lake Michigan Conference championship in the last nine seasons, and look to make their fifth trip to the NCAA Division III tournament. Lakeland defeated both Alverno and Maranatha twice a piece this season, with the smallest margin of victory coming on January 16, in a 54-41 win over Maranatha.

Wisconsin Lutheran College (14-10, 11-5) earned the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 Marian College (15-10, 11-5). The Warriors swept Marian in the regular season series, winning by 16 points (57-41) on January 14 in Milwaukee, and by 18 (79-61) in Fond du Lac on February 1. Marian has won their last five games, while Lutheran has dropped their last two.

Edgewood College (14-11, 11-5), who tied both Wisconsin Lutheran and Marian for third place, received the third-seed by virtue of having the best record between the three teams at 3-1. Lutheran was 2-2, and Marian was 1-3. The Eagles will take on No. 6 Milwaukee School of Engineering (8-17, 7-9) in Madison. Edgewood defeated the Raiders 71-56 on December 10, and 77-56 on January 18. Edgewood won last season's LMC tournament, and advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament before losing to UW-Stout, 70-59, in the first round.

The Edgewood/MSOE winner will take on the winner of No. 2 Concordia University/No. 7 Dominican University. Concordia (17-8,12-4) has really turned things around this year after a 6-20 campaign in 2004-05. The Falcons swept Dominican (6-19, 4-12) in both meetings, and won by an average of 30.0 points. After dropping ten straight games, the Stars have won their last three of their last four.

The semifinal games will take place Saturday, February 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the higher seed, and the tournament championship is scheduled for the following Saturday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m. The Lake Michigan Conference tournament champion will receive the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament, which begins March 1.

Interesting LMC Tournament Facts

• The No. 1 seed has won 12 of 14 LMC tournaments (No. 2 seed won the other two).
• Since obtaining the NCAA automatic bid in 2000, the No. 1 and 2 seeds have met in the championship game all but one year (No. 3 Lakeland, 2003).
• Since obtaining the NCAA automatic bid in 2000, only three schools have played in the LMC tournament championship (Edgewood, Lakeland, Wis. Lutheran).

LMC Tournament Championship Results
2005 No. 1 Edgewood 72, No. 2 Lakeland 64
2004 No. 1 Lakeland 69, No. 2 Edgewood 43
2003 No. 1 Wisconsin Lutheran 59, No. 3 Lakeland 41
2002 No. 1 Lakeland 62, No. 2 Wisconsin Lutheran 44
2001 No. 2 Lakeland 69, No. 1 Wisconsin Lutheran 40
2000 No. 2 Wisconsin Lutheran 72, No. 1 Lakeland 59
1999 No. 1 Lakeland 70, No. 7 Maranatha 44
1998 No. 1 Lakeland 63, No. 2 Wisconsin Lutheran 51
1997 No. 1 Cardinal Stritch 56, No. 2 Lakeland 41
1996 No. 1 Cardinal Stritch won
1995 No. 1 Concordia 64, No. 2 Cardinal Stritch 57
1994 No. 1 Concordia won
1993 No. 1 Concordia won
1992 No. 1 Concordia won

--February 13, 2006--