KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The (RV) Northwestern College and #21 Dordt women’s basketball received at-large bids to the 2022 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) women’s basketball national tournament.
The Raiders will travel to Marion, Ind. to face the No. 11-seed Midway University (Ky.) Eagles in the opening round on Friday, March 11 from Luckey Arena, on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University.
The Eagles (25-7, 15-2 RSC) hails out of the River States Conference (RSC) with a 25-7 on the year. Midway earned an automatic bid to the national tournament from the River States Conference.
Northwestern has put together quite the resume to receive the at-large bid berth, compiling a 24-8 record on the year and a fourth-place finish in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) at 15-7, all under first-year head coach Kristin Rotert.
The winner will face the winner of No. 3-seed Indiana Wesleyan (28-4, 14-3 Crossroads) and No. 14-seed Indiana-South Bend (25-7, 17-5 CCAC) on Saturday, March 12 from Luckey Arena in Marion, Ind.
The Defenders will face IU East in the opening round while Sterling will battle Eastern Oregon. The winners will square off for the right to move on to the 16-team final site in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Defenders earned a spot in the field as an at-large pick and are the fifth seed in the 16-team Cramer Quadrant of the bracket. IU East is also an at-large pick and finished third in the River States Conference with a 14-3 league mark and a 25-7 overall record. This is the fourth berth in the national field for IU East and its first since 2018. Dordt is in the field for the third time in four years after missing a berth in 2021.
Other GPAC teams making the round of 64 are Dakota Wesleyan, Morningside, Briar Cliff, and Concordia.
The 2022 NAIA Opening Round winners will meet up in Sioux City, Iowa, at the NAIA National Championship final site presented by Bomgaars. The 41st annual championship takes place at the Tyson Events Center from March 17-22.
