INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - The Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions have made a habit of playing in the NAIA Fab Four in recent years, but will look to advance to their second national championship game in as many years as they face off against No. 4 Campbellsville (Ky.) on Monday night at 8:00 PM in the Independence Events Center.

GAME COVERAGE
Video: NAIA Network (Pay-per-view)
Audio: FM91; FHU Game Central (John Armstrong, play-by-play)
Stats: Live Stats

SETTING THE STAGE
It will be a matchup of experience versus excitement tonight as No. 1 Freed-Hardeman (35-1) faces No. 4 Campbellsville (32-3) for a chance to play in tomorrow night's national championship game. FHU is the team with experience on this stage with three consecutive trips to the Fab Four. Campbellsville is making its first-ever trip, but is coming off the emotional high of erasing a 19-point deficit in the quarterfinals to advance. Both teams play hard-nosed defense, so expect a low-scoring game.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This year marks FHU's 19th straight trip to the NAIA National Tournament. The Lady Lions are 31-18 all-time in national tournament games with six trips to the NAIA Fab Four and one national runner-up finish (2014). Campbellsville is making its 23rd all-time appearance but first-ever trip to the Fab Four in its seventh appearance in the quarterfinals.

HOW THEY GOT HERE
FHU earned an automatic bid by winning its second straight American Midwest Conference championship and has won three grinding games at the tournament: 64-54 vs. Cal State-San Marcos, 69-62 vs. Benedictine (Kan.) and 63-50 over Montana State-Northern. Campbellsville earned an automatic bid as the Mid-South Conference regular season champion and pulled out wins over LSU-Shreveport, 55-46, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), 52-47, and Bethel (Tenn.), 73-64. Campbellsville trailed Bethel by 19 in the second half before a furious rally turned it into a 12-point lead late in the game.

THE MATCH-UP
FHU and Campbellsville have several similarities, the most notable being post play as both teams rely on a strong inside presence. The Lady Lions have a pair of All-Americans in Hayley Newby and Grace Alonso de Armino; the Lady Tigers are deeper with five players who generally see 10 or more minutes of action. Both are physical inside and great rebounding teams (+14.3 margin for FHU, +7.3 for CU), which could mean that whoever controls the paint will win the game. FHU will also need to contain guards Madison Clements and Caroline Owen, who played a huge role in CU's comeback win over Bethel.

FAMILIAR FOES
Tonight will mark the third time in the last five years that Campbellsville and Freed-Hardeman have faced off in the national tournament. FHU downed CU in the quarterfinals in 2011, 79-74, and defeated the Lady Tigers in the second round in 2013, 71-52. Campbellsville sent Freed-Hardeman home in the second round in 2000, 72-64, ending the careers of Qiana Elam and Kara Sanders - two of the best players in program history.

FAB FOUR FAMILIARITY
The other Fab Four game will feature defending champion Oklahoma City taking on No. 4 seed Westmont (Calif.), which won a triple-overtime thriller over Oklahoma Baptist to advance to its second Fab Four in three seasons. Their 6:00 PM game tonight will be a matchup between the NAIA's last two national champions. Oklahoma City is making its third Fab Four appearance in the last four seasons. Campbellsville is the only newcomer to the semifinals.

NUMBER TWO AND THREE
With her 12 rebounds on Saturday, Grace Alonso de Armino is now the program's second-leading career rebounder with 1174. She passed Jennifer Burkeen-Showers during the game to move into second behind Qiana Elam who had 1529 career boards. Hayley Newby also climbed into third place all-time on Saturday with 1077 career rebounds, passing former teammates Maria Bagwell.

BALL CONTROL
FHU turned the ball over a season-low three times in Saturday's quarterfinal win over Montana State-Northern. The Lady Lions have only turned the ball over 18 times throughout their three games so far in the NAIA National Tournament. That success may be tested tonight against a Campbellsville team that likes to press and force turnovers.

LOSING TO THE BEST
Five times, and three in the last four years, the Lady Lions have been eliminated from the tournament by the eventual national champion. FHU has never won a national title.