2019 NAIA DII Women's Basketball Championship Tournament Preview
SIOUX CITY, Iowa - (Schedule | Bracket) The 28th annual NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship, presented Riverside Technologies and Seaboard Triumph Foods, tips off tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Tyson Events Center. The single-elimination event runs through the championship final on March 12.
The first 30 games of the national championship will be broadcast live on www.NAIANetwork.com – the NAIA’s official video platform. The championship final is distributed on ESPN3 for the fifth-straight season on March 12 at 6:00 p.m.
This year’s field consists of 23 automatic berths and 9 at-large spots. Automatic qualification is given to conference regular-season champions, regular-season runners-up, tournament champions or tournament runners-up depending on the league. At-large teams were determined using the final regular-season Coaches’ Top 25 Poll released today. To access the poll, click HERE.
No. 4 seeded Sterling (Kan.) (27-5) and No. 5 seeded Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) (23-9) - out of the Naismith Bracket - will be the first teams to compete at the Championship Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.
Concordia (Neb.) is the No. 1 overall seed entering the tournament with a 30-3 record overall and record of 19-3 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The Bulldogs will step on the hardwood Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. to play the Bulldogs of No. 8 seeded Wilberforce (Ohio).
The defending national champions, Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) return to Sioux City as the No. 3 overall seed. The Tigers have an overall season record of 28-5 and a NAIA DII Women’s Basketball Championship tournament record 16-4. They received their automatic bid this year by being the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up.
The Great Plains Athletic Conference represents strongly this year in the national tournament with most teams present with six. Three of them seeded in the top four overall.
Wilberforce (Ohio), Bellevue (Neb.) and Dordt (Iowa) are making their first-ever trip to the national championship.
Of the 32 qualifying teams this year 20 made an appearance in the 2018 NAIA DII Women’s Basketball National Championship.
For more information about Division II Women's Basketball, click here