KANSAS CITY, MO. (March 7, 2018) – (Bracket | Video Announcement | Schedule) The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 32 qualifiers and bracket for the 38th annual NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship, presented by Wells Fargo. The event returns to Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark in Billings, Mont., March 14 – 20.
This year's field consists of 14 automatic berths, 17 at-large selections and championship host Rocky Mountain (Mont.). 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, which can be found HERE.
Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) will make its seventh consecutive national tournament appearance, this year as the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up. The Saints, 23-9, placed second in the regular season and in the tournament to league champion LSU-Shreveport.
The Saints are set to play Loyola University New Orleans on Thursday, March 15 at 9 a.m. The team finished out their season with a 25-5 record and they captured the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship.
The Saints and the Wolf Pack have played each other twice, first in 2010 when the Saints lost 45-64. In 2014, the teams met up at the Sweet 16 Round of the National Tournament, and the Wolf Pack won 72-67.
Head Coach Christopher Minner commented, "We're excited to be returning to the tournament. It should be a good game between us and Loyola. We just need to play our game and we should be fine. We just have to win and advance. Our schedule has prepared us for this tournament."