KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [Video Announcement | 1st & 2nd Round Schedule Page | Bracket] The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the teams and bracket for the 2024 NAIA Women’s Basketball Championship First Round presented by Ballogy. The 64-team bracket will begin with the first and second rounds at host sites nationwide on March 15-16. The 2024 NAIA second round winners will meet in Sioux City, Iowa, at the NAIA National Championship final site presented by Bomgaars and Sterling. The 43rd annual championship occurs at the Tyson Events Center from March 21-22.
The Cascade Collegiate Conference saw four teams earn spots in the national tournament. No. 18-ranked Southern Oregon University picked up the CCC’s first automatic bid by winning the regular-season title while No. 11-ranked Lewis-Clark State College grabbed the second automatic qualifier after being the CCC Women’s Basketball Tournament runner-up to SOU. No. 22-ranked Oregon Tech and Eastern Oregon University grabbed at-large bids to round out the conference qualifiers.
In the first round, Southern Oregon will host University of Antelope Valley while Lewis-Clark State will host Brewton-Parker College. Oregon Tech will head to Helena, Mont., to face Jessup University while Eastern Oregon will play University of Providence in Great Falls, Montana. All first round games will take place on March 15.
This year’s first round field includes 37 automatic qualifiers and 27 at-large selections. Automatic berths were given to teams that either won their respective conference tournament title or regular season championship, finished runner-up at the conference tournament or were otherwise selected by the conference. The NAIA Women’s Basketball National Selection Committee determined the at-large bids. The selection committee consists of one representative from each geographical area and six at-large members consisting of coaches and administrators from around the country.
All first and second round games will be streamed by the host and may be produced on various platforms.
The NAIA Network – the association’s official video streaming home – will broadcast all Round of 16, quarterfinal and semifinal games live in Sioux City at the 2024 NAIA Women’s Basketball Championship final site. While the championship will be streamed exclusively on ESPN3. Single-day passes on the NAIA Network can be purchased for $9.95, while an all-championship tournament package is available at $34.95. For more information and to pre-register, CLICK HERE.