Bracket | National Tournament Press Guide
SEWARD, Neb. – The program’s 47th game all-time at the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship will tip off at 12 p.m. CST on Wednesday. The top-ranked Concordia University women’s basketball team enters the national tournament as one of the favorites having garnered the No. 1 overall seed in the bracket. Wilberforce University (Ohio) will serve as the first-round opponent.
Wednesday, March 6 | 12 p.m.
NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championships (First Round)
Concordia (30-3) vs. Wilberforce (14-12)
Sioux City, Iowa | Tyson Events Center
Webcast: NAIA Network (fee required)
Radio: 104.9 Max Country (Tyler Cavalli)
Live stats: Dakstats
Seward watch parties: THOM Auditorium (on campus)/Bottle Rocket Brewing Co.
Head coach Drew Olson’s squad has shown remarkable focus while navigating a schedule that Massey Ratings lists as the second most difficult among all NAIA women’s basketball teams. But everything has been about preparing for these moments on the national stage. To some degree, it will always feel like there is unfinished business until the program cuts down that final net. The last time the Bulldogs exited the court at the Tyson Events Center, they were left searching for answers following an 82-59 loss to arch rival Dakota Wesleyan in the national championship game.
Wilberforce is looking to pull off a first-round stunner after qualifying for the tournament via an automatic bid (third place in the Association of Independent Institutions Conference Tournament). Also nicknamed the Bulldogs, Wilberforce has no previous experience at the national tournament. The team is coached by Derek Williams, an alum of Concordia University Irvine. According to Dakstats, Wilberforce has used 23 different players this season. The standout has been Nia McCormick, the team leader with an average of 13.5 points per game. The town of Wilberforce, Ohio, is listed as having a population of 2,271.
On the other hand, seven players on the Concordia roster have played at the national tournament in previous years. These seven individuals have combined for 47 career games over appearances from 2016 through 2018. Senior Quinn Wragge has the most experience on the national stage during that time, having played in each of the program’s last 10 national tournament games. Wragge has averaged 13.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in those contests. She was named to the All-Tournament Second Team last season. In her first national tournament game (2016 vs. Goshen College), Wragge notched 24 points and 10 rebounds.
GPAC Player of the Year Philly Lammers has the next most national tournament experience with nine games played at the Tyson Events Center. The Omaha native has averaged 15.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per game at the national tournament. While helping the Bulldogs to the title game, Lammers was named All-Tournament First Team in 2018. Lammers has an active national tournament string of three games in a row with at least 20 points. She put up a combined 69 points last season in national championships contests versus Jamestown, Northwestern and Dakota Wesleyan. Lammers is nearing a milestone, now five points away from 1,500 in her career.
The other five Concordia players with experience at the Tyson Events Center are Colby Duvel (9 games), MacKenzie Helman (8) Taylor Cockerill (5), Taryn Schuette (3) and Riley Sibbel (3). Those in the junior/senior classes, have helped the Bulldogs to a combined seven national tournament wins over the past two seasons.
The winner on Wednesday will advance to play at 12 p.m. on Friday in the second round against either fourth-seeded Sterling College (Kan.) (27-5) or fifth-seeded Cardinal Stritch University (Wis.) (23-9).
Projected lineups
*Scoring average in parentheses
Concordia (30-3)
G – Grace Barry, Jr., 5-7 (11.1)
G – Taylor Cockerill, So., 5-9 (15.8)
G – Riley Sibbel, Jr., 5-9 (5.2)
F – Quinn Wragge, Sr., 6-0 (10.6)
F – Philly Lammers, Jr., 5-11 (14.6)
Wilberforce (14-12)
G – Nia McCormick, So., 5-5 (13.5)
G – Alexandria Shealey, Jr., 5-8 (4.9)
G – Malika Wildon, Fr., 5-6 (5.8)
F – Jacie Dickerson, Sr., 5-11 (4.5)
F – Mustafa Notter, Sr., 6-0 (10.4)
Key stats
*NAIA Division II rank in parentheses
Concordia
Scoring offense: 87.1 (3rd)
Field goal % offense: .427 (21st)
Scoring defense: 65.1 (58th)
Field goal % defense: .398 (T-89th)
Turnover margin: +13.2 (1st)
Rebound margin: +1.1 (69th)
3-point FG makes/game: 8.8 (13th)
Strength of Schedule: 2nd
Massey Rating: 1st
Wilberforce
Scoring offense: 64.6 (84th)
Field goal % offense: .435 (T-13th)
Scoring defense: 61.8 (28th)
Field goal % defense: .382 (T-50th)
Turnover margin: -1.5 (84th)
Rebound margin: +2.5 (50th)
3-point FG makes/game: 4.7 (121st)
Strength of Schedule: 167th
Massey Rating: 147th