NAIA DII Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket has 3 RSC teams going to Sioux City
NAIA DII Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket has 3 RSC teams going to Sioux City
By Jed Flemming, NAIA Athletics Communications and Media Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Bracket | Championship Schedule) The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 32 qualifiers and bracket for the 27th annual NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship, presented by Mercy Medical Center and Seaboard Triumph Foods. The event will be held in Sioux City, Iowa, for the 21st-straight season – the longest streak of any current championship host – at the Tyson Events Center from March 7 – 13.
The field is made up of 22 automatic berths and 10 at-large selections. Automatic qualification is given to conference regular-season champions, tournament champions or tournament runners-up depending on the conference. At-large teams were determined using the final regular-season Coaches' Top 25 Poll released today. For that release, click here.
The NAIA Network – the association's official video streaming home – will video-stream the first 28 games live leading up to the semifinals and final on ESPN3. The video platform, powered by Stretch Internet, allows users access to live video, statistics, and social interaction on a number of devices, including mobile. Single day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while an all-tournament package is available at $35.95. For more information and to pre-register, click here.
Qualifier Highlights
• No. 1 overall seed Southeastern (Fla.) is the only team this season to enter the tournament with no losses. The Fire come into the tournament with a perfect 29-0 record as The Sun Conference Tournament champions.
• The defending national champs, Marian (Ind.), won the Crossroads League regular-season and conference tournament. At 31-2, the Knights are looking to claim their third-consecutive title. The only other team to accomplish this was Northwestern (Iowa) from 2010-12.
• Northwest Christian (Ore.), Antelope Valley (Calif.), Alice Lloyd (Ky.), and Stillman College (Ala.) will make their first national championship appearance. Northwest Christian received an At-Large bid. Antelope Valley received an automatic bid by winning the California Pacific Conference, while Alice Lloyd and Stillman received automatic bids as the runner-ups in their tournaments.
• Northwestern has posted five previous national titles – the most amongst the field. Morningside (Iowa) (4), Hastings (Neb.) (3), Marian (Ind.) (2) and Saint Francis (Ind.) (1) are the only other qualifiers to have earned a red banner.
• College of the Ozarks (Mo.), earned an automatic berth out of the Association of Independent Institutions, punched its ticket to an NAIA-record 24th national championship appearance. This year also marks the 16th-straight postseason for the Bobcats.
• Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) is tied with College of the Ozarks for most-consecutive trips to the national championship with 17. Morningside is close behind with 16-straight.
• Six teams in the field are making their 15th-or-better appearance. These teams are Indiana Wesleyan (15), Morningside (16), Northwestern (16), Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) (22), and College of the Ozarks (24).
• The Great Plains Athletic Conference is the home to the most schools making the tournament this year with five.
• In total, the Eastern Time Zone contains 15 of the 32 schools playing in the tournament. The Central time zone has 13, and the Pacific time zone has four schools. The state of Indiana leads all states, boasting five schools playing in the national championship.
2017-18 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship Qualifiers
| Team Name | Qualification | 2018 Record | Appearances | Tourn. Record | Last Time | Titles |
| Alice Lloyd (Ky.) | River States West Division Champion | 24-5 | 1 | 0-0 | N/A | 0 |
| Antelope Valley (Calif.) | California Pacific Conference Tournament Champion | 22-6 | 1 | 0-0 | N/A | 0 |
| Bryan (Tenn.) | Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 25-9 | 7 | 1-6 | 2017 | 0 |
| Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) | At-Large Berth No. 9 | 19-10 | 22 | 17-21 | 2017 | 0 |
| College of the Ozarks (Mo.) | Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Champion | 30-1 | 24 | 42-23 | 2017 | 0 |
| Concordia (Neb.) | Great Plains Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion | 32-1 | 17 | 24-16 | 2017 | 0 |
| Cornerstone (Mich.) | Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 19-14 | 11 | 9-10 | 2015 | 0 |
| Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) | Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up | 27-6 | 6 | 12-5 | 2017 | 0 |
| Eastern Oregon | Cascade Collegiate Conference Regular-Season Champion | 30-2 | 11 | 7-10 | 2017 | 0 |
| Friends (Kan.) | Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conferece Regular-Season Champion | 24-8 | 10 | 1-8 | 2017 | 0 |
| Hastings (Neb.) | At-Large Berth No. 3 | 24-6 | 18 | 35-13 | 2017 | 3 |
| Indiana Tech | Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Regular Season Champion | 29-4 | 6 | 3-5 | 2017 | 0 |
| Indiana Wesleyan | At-Large Berth No. 10 | 24-8 | 15 | 26-13 | 2016 | 2 |
| IU-East (Ind.) | At-Large Berth No. 5 | 22-10 | 3 | 0-2 | 2017 | 0 |
| Jamestown (N.D.) | At-Large Berth No. 1 | 29-4 | 10 | 8-9 | 2017 | 0 |
| Lawrence Tech (Mich.) | At-Large Berth No. 8 | 25-6 | 2 | 0-1 | 2016 | 0 |
| Marian (Ind.) | Crossroads League Regular-Season Champion | 31-2 | 5 | 11-2 | 2017 | 2 |
| Morningside (Iowa) | At-Large Berth No. 4 | 21-11 | 15 | 35-12 | 2017 | 4 |
| Northwest Christian (Ore.) | At-Large Berth No. 6 | 23-6 | 1 | 0-0 | N/A | 0 |
| Northwestern (Iowa) | At-Large Berth No. 2 | 22-8 | 16 | 47-10 | 2017 | 5 |
| Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up | 23-9 | 7 | 4-6 | 2017 | 0 |
| Reinhardt (Ga.) | Appalachian Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion | 26-9 | 5 | 0-2 | 2017 | 0 |
| Rio Grande (Ohio) | River States Conference Tournament & Reg. Season Champion | 30-3 | 3 | 0-2 | 2015 | 0 |
| Saint Xavier (Ill.) | Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion | 29-2 | 6 | 6-5 | 2017 | 0 |
| Southeastern (Fla.) | The Sun Conference Regular-Season Champion | 29-0 | 4 | 2-3 | 2017 | 0 |
| Southern Oregon | Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Runner-Up | 27-4 | 11 | 11-10 | 2017 | 0 |
| St. Francis (Ill.) | At-Large Berth No. 7 | 20-8 | 3 | 3-2 | 2017 | 1 |
| St. Thomas (Fla.) | The Sun Conference Tournament Runner-Up | 21-9 | 5 | 0-4 | 2015 | 0 |
| Stillman College (Ala.) | Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Runner-Up | 19-11 | 1 | 0-0 | N/A | 0 |
| Tabor (Kan.) | Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conferece Tournament Champion | 18-13 | 9 | 8-8 | 2017 | 0 |
| Taylor (Ind.) | Crossroads League Tournament Runner-Up | 23-10 | 7 | 3-6 | 2010 | 0 |
| Valley City State (N.D.) | North Star Athletic Association Tournament Champion | 25-4 | 4 | 0-4 | 2017 | 0 |