Bracket | National Tournament Press Guide
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Perhaps it’s finally their time. Focus and finish has been the motto all year long for the Concordia University women’s basketball team. The “finish” part of that motto is all about cutting down that final net. That opportunity will present itself tonight (March 12) as the Bulldogs take on second-ranked Southeastern University (Fla.) for the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship. Head coach Drew Olson’s squad squeaked past No. 4 Northwestern, 82-79, in the semifinals.
Monday, March 12 | 7:05 p.m.
NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championships (Championship)
No. 1 Concordia (34-3) vs. No. 2 Southeastern (31-2)
Sioux City, Iowa | Tyson Events Center
Webcast: NAIA Network / ESPN3.com
Radio: 104.9 Max Country (Tyler Cavalli)
Live stats: Dakstats
Seward watch parties: Weller Auditorium (on campus)/Bottle Rocket Brewing Co.
During Olson’s tenure, the game changed in 2012 when the likes of Kristen Conahan, Amber Kistler, Bailey Morris and Katie Rich led Concordia to the national semifinals. That team believed it was good enough to win the whole thing. So too did Olson’s teams in 2015, 2017 and 2018. In the minds of those alums, Olson and the current players, it’s time. It’s time to capture the ultimate goal and pose with the big red banner. This is the moment this program has been building up to. It has done everything that can be done, except win that final game.
Of course it’s going to have to be earned against a worthy opponent, but what makes this Concordia edition so difficult to beat is that it essentially has four All-Americans in its starting lineup. A bad game for any one player will not doom it. It’s almost like they take turns while passing around the role of hero. In the win over No. 17 Cardinal Stritch, Taylor Cockerill went off for 19 of her 26 points in the fourth quarter. Point guard Grace Barry has rarely come out of games of late while running the show at the point. Then on Monday, Philly Lammers (28 points, 13 rebounds, five steals vs. Northwestern) came to the rescue in the moments when it looked like the Red Raiders might just hand the Bulldogs a devastating loss. Lammers wasn’t having it.
No matter what, this really is the end of the line for senior Quinn Wragge, who scored 13 points in the semifinal win to push her career total to 1,765 (tied with Whitney Stichka for fourth all-time in program history). She is the lone senior on this roster and a mainstay for each of the program’s past three advancements to the national semifinals. There would be no better way for the Crofton, Neb., native to avenge last season’s loss in the championship game and go out on top. Big games like this are the norm for players like Wragge, Lammers and Colby Duvel, who each have vast experience now on the national stage.
There’s no doubt that Southeastern passes the eye test. The Fire are the tallest and longest team at this level of women’s basketball. With a roster chalk full of NCAA Division I transfers, Southeastern dominated its overmatched competition throughout the regular season. It also got some revenge on Monday by outlasting No. 3 Dakota Wesleyan, 78-75, in double overtime. The Fire had been eliminated a year earlier in the quarterfinals by the Tigers. Three Southeastern starters played more than 40 minutes in the marathon. There could be some tired legs on both sides on Tuesday night. Head coach Tim Hays’ program has reached the championship game for the first time ever.
This will be a rematch of a regular season game played in Phoenix, Ariz., on Dec. 28. Concordia managed to win the game despite shooting 28.4 percent from the field. The Bulldogs led 31-12 at halftime before Southeastern made a push in what ended in a 59-51 final score. The Fire used their length to block seven shots in that contest. Southeastern ranks No. 2 nationally in blocks per game (5.0). Five Fire players average 9.9 points or more, led by 16.6 from 5-foot-11 guard Elsa Paulsson-Glantz, one of nine transfers on the roster. All five starters are 5-11 or taller.
Projected lineups
*Scoring average in parentheses
Concordia (34-3)
G – Grace Barry, Jr., 5-7 (11.4)
G – Taylor Cockerill, So., 5-9 (15.4)
G – Riley Sibbel, Jr., 5-9 (5.2)
F – Quinn Wragge, Sr., 6-0 (10.4)
F – Philly Lammers, Jr., 5-11 (14.8)
Southeastern (31-2)
G – Makenzie Cann, Sr., 6-1 (14.4)
G – Jaycee Coe, Sr., 5-11 (13.8)
G – Elsa Paulsson-Glantz, Sr., 6-0 (16.6)
G – Halee Printz, Sr., 5-11 (5.8)
C – Marlena Schmidt, Jr., 6-6 (11.4)