Culver-Stockton Wildcats women’s basketball clinched its first home playoff game since 2019 after a stunning 75-38 victory against William Penn University on Wednesday, Feb. 18th, 2026. Culver-Stockton is now given the opportunity to play either Peru State College, Missouri Valley College, or Central Methodist University.
The last home playoff game for the Wildcats women’s basketball was on Feb. 25, 2019, against Grand View University, where the Wildcats won 72-63. That season, the team made it to the Heart of America Conference Tournament Finals against William Penn, where they tragically lost 57-67 against the Statesmen. This year, the home playoff game will be hosted at Culver-Stockton’s Joe Charles Fieldhouse in Canton, Missouri, on Wednesday, Feb. 25th, 2026. So far, the team has had a phenomenal season, being 18-8 in the regular season and 12-6 in the conference.
The leading scorers for this game were Freshman Allysa O’Connor, who led the team with 12 points, followed by Senior Avery Oetting with 10 points and Elly Bentley coming off the bench to score 10 points as well. The team overall went 58.5% from the field and an outstanding 81.8% from the free-throw line.
When interviewed about her players, Coach Janette Burgin said, “ We’ve done a great job of team chemistry and moving the ball from side to side. Making sure that we’re hitting the right person at the right time, then finishing at the rim. We have been sharing the ball really well, and they’re doing a great job getting everybody else involved as well as being a big key to our success.”
“When it comes to our defense we have to continue to focus on getting stops and creating easy opportunities for us on the offense.” stated Burgin.
Although it is an exciting time for the team to be given the opportunity to host a playoff game, there is still another game to be played before looking at the next opponent. “We have a chance to get 20 wins under our belt, and that’s really hard to do in the collegiate level, so that is going to be our main focus right now, and we’ll game plan right after,” said Burgin. Currently, it is unknown who the Wildcats will face up against until after the games on Saturday, Feb. 21st, 2026, occured, after all the games are played, Coach Burgin will begin her game plan for the 25th.
“We want everybody at the game to continue to support these young ladies and the success that they’ve had this year,” says Burgin.
Come support the Wildcats women’s basketball team on Wednesday, Feb. 25th, 2026, as it is going to be an exciting game for these athletes who would love support as they enter the first round of playoffs.
