The SMS Lady Bears will try to advance to their first ever post season championship game tonight as they face Iowa in the semifinals of the WNIT. Tonight’s game at the Hammons Center will be a reunion of sorts on many different levels.

First off, SMS head coach Katie-Abrahamson Henderson played the final two years of her college career at Iowa, but she isn’t putting too much stock into her former affiliation with the school. She said, “To be honest it’s not really about me and I kind of look at it this way: It’s my old house and my mother’s in there anymore.”

Two of Iowa’s players have connections to the area and school. IU senior guard Jenna Armstrong is from the area, playing her high school games at Stockton and center Jamie Cavey is the younger sister of Anne Cavey, who played for SMS during their Final Four run in 2001.

The Hawkeyes are coached by Lisa Bluder, who made many trips to Springfield during her ten year tenure as the head coach at Drake.

SMS enters tonight’s game with a record of 23-8, and Iowa is 23-9. The winner will face either West Virginia or Kentucky on Thursday.