For the fifth time in program history, the John Brown University women's basketball team has been extended an at-large berth to the NAIA Division I National Championships, the national office announced Wednesday night via selection show.
Falling just one win shy of tying the program record of 23 regular-season wins, John Brown, claiming a No. 19 ranking in the final regular season NAIA Coaches' Top-25 Poll, earned the fifth seed in the Liston bracket and will face fourth-seeded and No. 13 Benedictine (Kan.) in the Round of 32 on Thursday at 6:15 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (7:15 p.m. Central Time).
2017 NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship
March 15-21
All times Mountain Daylight Time
Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark; Billings, Mont.
Wednesday’s first round games
Game 1: No. 1 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (30-2) vs. No. 8 Martin Methodist (Tenn.) (21-10), 8:30 a.m.
Game 2: No. 4 Biola (Calif.) (23-7) vs. No. 5 Central Methodist (Mo.) (23-9), 10:15 a.m.
Game 3: No. 2 Oklahoma City (29-2) vs. No. 7 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (18-13), noon
Game 4: No. 3 Campbellsville (Ky.) (25-6) vs. No. 6 Talledega (Ala.) (22-8), 1:45 p.m.
Game 5: No. 2 Baker (Kan.) (29-4) vs. No. 7 Mobile (Ala.) (22-10), 4 p.m.
Game 6: No. 3 Columbia (Mo.) (26-6) vs. No. 6 Montana Western (23-8), 5:45 p.m.
Game 7: No. 1 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) (33-0) vs. No. 8 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) (13-18), 8 p.m.
Game 8: No. 4 Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) (24-8) vs. No. 5 The Master’s (Calif.) (22-8), 9:45 p.m.
Thursday’s first round games
Game 9: No. 3 Lyon (Ark.) (27-5) vs. No. 6 Pikeville (Ky.) (21-10), 9 a.m.
Game 10: No. 4 Wayland Baptist (Texas) (25-6) vs. No. 5 Bethel (Tenn.) (23-10), 10:45 a.m.
Game 11: No. 1 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (31-1) vs. No. 8 William Penn (Iowa) (18-13), 12:30 p.m.
Game 12: No. 2 Westmont (Calif.) (27-4) vs. No. 7 LSU-Shreveport (La.) (22-9), 2:15 p.m.
Game 13: No. 1 Shawnee State (Ohio) (31-2) vs. No. 8 William Woods (Mo.) (20-11), 4:30 p.m.
Game 14: No. 4 Benedictine (Kan.) (25-8) vs. No. 5 John Brown (Ark.) (22-8), 6:15 p.m.
Game 15: No. 3 Montana State-Northern (23-8) vs. No. 6 Loyola (La.) (26-6), 8 p.m.
Game 16: No. 2 Vanguard (Calif.) (27-3) vs. No. 7 Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) (22-9), 9:45 p.m.
Friday’s second round
Game 17: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 9 a.m.
Game 18: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 6, 10:45 a.m.
Game 19: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 12:30 p.m.
Game 20: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 2:15 p.m.
Game 21: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 12, 4:30 p.m.
Game 22: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11, 6:15 p.m.
Game 23: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14, 8 p.m.
Game 24: Winner Game 15 vs. Winner Game 16, 9:45 p.m.
Saturday’s quarterfinals
Game 25: Winner Game 17 vs. Winner Game 18, 2 p.m.
Game 26: Winner Game 19 vs. Winner Game 20, 4 p.m.
Game 27: Winner Game 21 vs. Winner Game 22, 6 p.m.
Game 28: Winner Game 23 vs. Winner Game 24, 8 p.m.
March 20 semifinals
Game 29: Winner Game 25 vs. Winner Game 26, 6 p.m.
Game 30: Winner game 27 vs. Winner Game 28, 8 p.m.
March 21 championship
Game 31: Winner Game 29 vs. Winner Game 30, 7:05 p.m.
NOTE: The first 30 games will be video-streamed at www.NAIANetwork.com. The championship final will be broadcast on ESPN3.com.
"I'm excited for the girls," said head coach Jeff Soderquist. "They've done a great job and they've earned it. We have a neat group of girls."
If the matchup looks familiar, it is because the Golden Eagles and Ravens have faced off already this year in both teams' season openers on Nov. 1. The Golden Eagles upset then-No. 11 Benedictine, 70-66.
The Ravens (25-8) plowed their way through the difficult Heart of America Tournament before falling to defending national champion, Baker (Kan.), by a 64-51 final. Benedictine carried a 39-38 lead into the fourth in the title game, but the Wildcats responded with a 26-12 final frame to land the HAAC crown.
"Coach (Chad) Folsom does a great job," Soderquist said. "I've known him a number of years and he does a very good job over there. They've done a great job after Christmas. Like us, they're a great 3-point shooting team, so I expect a great game and good competition."
Despite a setback in the quarterfinal round of the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament, the Golden Eagles enter the big dance with a 22-8 overall mark and have won 13 of its last 15 contests. It will be JBU's third trip to the National Championships in seven seasons. John Brown has a 3-4 overall mark in four trips, with all three wins coming at the 2014 edition of the Championships where JBU donned the Cinderella mantle en route to taking down Lyon (Ark.), top-seeded Vanguard (Calif.) and Loyola (La.) before dropping the national semifinal contest to eventual champion and conference foe Oklahoma City by just two points.
Led by sophomore and returning All-America selection Baily Cameron, the Golden Eagles lead the nation in 3-pointers per game (10.8) and total three-pointers (323) while dishing out the second-most assists per game (19.0) and shooting nearly 40 percent behind the arc, also second-best in the nation.
Cameron paces John Brown with 17.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game and leads the team with a 52.6 percent shooting percentage. Senior Kodee Powell adds 11.2 points per game while junior Jana Schammel has come on as of late, contributing 9.4 points a night. Powell and Schammel drive the JBU triple threat, shooting 43.6 and 44.4 percent from long range, and are sixth and fourth in the nation, respectively.
Kristen Murphy leads the Ravens with 15.9 points per game while Serena Parker contributes 14 points and 7.3 boards per night, a team-best. Benedictine is 3-4 against top-25 competition this season, thrice losing to Baker, but boasts an impressive 18-3 mark since Christmas.
Sports on 03/12/2017