Monmouth College (Monmouth, Illinois) is headed to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament for only the second time in program history.

The Fighting Scots are coached by 2001 Franklin County High School graduate Kyle Wilson, who in his fifth year as head man led the team to a program-best 21 wins.

This past weekend, the Scots won the Midwest Conference Tournament by hitting 15 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter to knock off regular season champ Ripon College (Wisconsin), 74-69.

With 19 seconds left, Carley Turnbull sank two foul shots to complete a second-half comeback. Turnbull had a game-high 22 points and Becca Gallis added 18.

Wilson played hoops for the Wildcats before attending Hanover College, graduating with a degree in physical education in 2005. He went on to Xavier University and gained a master's degree in sport administration the following year. 

Serving as an assistant coach at Hanover and Adrian College (Michigan), Wilson held the same post later at Pfeiffer University (N.C.) and Henderson State University (Arkansas) before becoming the 11th person to coach Monmouth's women's program (2015). 

His teams have steadily improved, the 2018-19 version gaining 10 more wins than the prior year.

Since Wilson took over, five Scots have earned all-conference honors – three in the 2018-19 season. The team has excelled in the classroom as well, earning nearly 20 academic all-conference awards.

The Scots (21-6) will play their first-round game Friday against host Wartburg College (24-3) in Waverly, Iowa. A win would send them on to Saturday's second round. 

(Source: https://monmouthscots.com)