OKLAHOMA CITY – For the second straight season, the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball team is heading to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division I National Championship, but this time they are doing it as the tournament's top seed.
MACU (21-11) was announced as the #1 seed in the eight-team field which will contest the NCCAA's National Championship tournament for Division I. The Lady Evangels are one of two at-large teams in the field, along with Concordia University from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
MACU will open their tournament run in the third game of the day on Wednesday. The Lady Evangels will tip-off their quarterfinal against the eighth-seeded Yellowstone Christian College Centurions from Billings, Montana. The game is slated for a 3:30 p.m. EDT tip-off.
The Centurions enter the Championship as the West Region Champion, but they played only 15 games during the season, and they have not played a countable contest singe February 10. The Centurions posted an 11-4 record overall in 2017-18, and they are making their first ever trip to the NCCAA National Championship. MACU is making its 17th appearance in an NCCAA Championship, and its fourth since moving to NCCAA Division I for the 2007-08 season.
The other matchup on the Lady Evangels' side of the bracket will feature the No. 4-seed and host Grace College Lancers (18-15) against the No. 5-seed Emmanuel College Lions (16-11). The Lancers won the NCCAA Midwest Region Championship, and the Lions are the South Region champions. Their quarterfinal will be the final game of the first day of the Championship, tipping off at 5:15 p.m. EDT.
The Championship will tip-off with the No. 3-seed Greenville College (Ill.) Panthers (21-6) doing battle with the Central Region champions from Southwestern Christian University (13-17). That game is scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. tip-off on Wednesday, and the second game features the No. 2-seed Concordia (20-13) against seventh-seeded Hiwassee College (Tenn.) (19-9) at 10:15 a.m. EDT.
The winners will advance to the semifinals, while the four quarterfinal losers will play in the back-draw of the bracket for an opportunity to finish fifth. The consolation semifinals will be contested in the first two time slots on Thursday, with the 3:30 and 5:15 times being reserved for the Championship semifinals. The seventh-place game will take place on Friday at 1 p.m., with the 5th place game scheduled for 5 p.m. The third-place contest will tip at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, and the National Championship title game will commence at 2:00 p.m. on the tournament's final day.
