BILLINGS, Mont. – Two squads that appear to have something to prove will square off Wednesday morning in the opening round of the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship, presented by Wells Fargo. In a first-ever meeting between the two programs, Central Methodist University takes on Biola University in the battle of the Eagles at 11:15 a.m. CST in Rimrock Auto Arena, located in MetraPark.
CMU is ranked 20th in the nation in last week's NAIA DI Women's Basketball Coaches Top 25 Poll, while Biola is ranked No. 14. The teams, who are seeded fourth (Biola) and fifth (CMU) in the eight-team Cramer Brocket, which is one-fourth of the women's national tournament field.
The game will be broadcast on the Stretch Internet NAIA Network. The cost to watch the game is $9.95 and it can be viewed by clicking the link below. Live stats are also available. Central Methodist University is showing the contest for free in Linn Memorial United Methodist Church on its campus. Doors will open at 11 a.m. No food will be served, but anyone is welcome to bring their own food and drinks to the viewing.
FOLLOW THE CMU-BIOLA GAME
How to Watch CMU-BIOLA (PPV-$9.95) – CLICK HERE
FREE Live Stats of the Game – CLICK HERE
Complete Bracket – CLICK HERE
Schedule and Results – CLICK HERE
How to Purchase Tickets – CLICK HERE
Billings, Lodging, Food, etc. – CLICK HERE
Central Methodist Season Statistics – CLICK HERE
Biola Season Statistics – CLICK HERE
Central Methodist Athletics Website – CLICK HERE
Biola University Athletics Website – CLICK HERE
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Central Methodist finished in third place in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, posting a season record of 23-9 and conference mark of 18-8. CMU finished six games behind regular season champion and 8th-ranked Baker University and four games behind second place and 13th-ranked Benedictine College… Baker, Benedictine, CMU and two other teams from the Heart all qualified for the National Championship tournament… Central Methodist advanced to Heart Postseason Tournament semifinals.
Biola finished in second place in the Golden State Athletic Conference, posting a 23-7 season mark and a 13-3 league mark, finish in a tie with No. 7-ranked Westmont for second, two games behind regular season champion and No. 5-ranked Vanguard. Westmont captured the postseason tournament.
There are seven Top 25 teams in the eight-team Cramer bracket.
SCOUTING BIOLA UNIVERSITY
Biola used two wins against No. 3-ranked teams and an additional regular season win against GSAC tournament finalist The Master's to move up the polls from being unranked at the beginning of the season to a high of No. 14… Biola is led by three-point shooting and All-GSAC guards Annie Park and DeMoria White, who were both top-5 shooting for total three-pointers made this season. Park finished with 98 threes to lead the NAIA after sinking 11 shots from behind the arc during a 94-87 win on the final home game of the regular season against Bethesda University… Post player Joclyn Kirton led the inside game for BU with 11 double-doubles on the season, while scoring 20 or more points seven times.
THE HISTORY OF CMU, BIOLA IN THE TOURNAMENT
Central Methodist, which claimed the No. 10 at-large to the tournament, is 0-2 all-time in the national tournament, advancing to 'the dance' last season before falling to University of Great Falls, 70-58, in the opening round… Biola, after receiving the No. 6 at-large bid, is making its eighth trip to the national tournament, posting an all-time record of 3-7. This will be Biola's first appearance since the 2011-12 season. Prior to missing the tournament the last four seasons, BU had qualified for the national tournament four years in a row.
LEADING CENTRAL METHODIST
DaJonee Hale (JR/Anchorage, Alaska) and Lexie Moe (SO/St. Peters, Mo.) lead CMU offensively as the duo were double-digit scorers during the regular season. Hale used a mix of three-pointers and drives to the hoop to score 18.4 points a game. She also connected on .845 of her free throws. Moe averages 16.5 points and 6.9 boards a contest. She leads the squad with 115 free throws made.
WHAT DOES CMU HEAD COACH MIKE DAVIS SAY?
How do you battle the unknowns?
"Our players have had a great last week. They have really worked their tails off. I think they will tell you no one in the country has worked harder than they have in the last week. So many times teams have come back from the national tournament and said, 'if we would have only played like we have all year long we would have been fine.' I think that is the key; to get out there and be comfortable and be who you are. I think if we go play well we'll make a good showing."
What are the CMU strengths?
"I think this is a team that has a lot of fire power. We're averaging roughly 80 points a ballgame, but I think that's a tough thing for some of the teams to guard. Some of the challenges we have is rebounding and sometimes guarding the paint. So those some of the things we have to work on every day so our strengths will come through. Our conference was very strong this year with five teams making the national tournament. And when you have at least 10 games of the regular season again teams in the national tournament, that's a third of your season and that means a lot."
What do you expect from Biola?
"They have a couple of guards that can really shoot the ball. They have a kid inside that's a handful. And when you put them things together you've got a tough matchup. I think they're similar to us in a lot of ways. I think it will be a very good ballgame."
2017 NAIA DIVISION I WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
March 15-21
Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark, Billings, Mont.
CRAMER BRACKET
First Round
Wednesday, March 15
#1 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)(30-2) vs. #8 Martin Methodist (Tenn.)(21-10), 8:30 a.m.
#4 Biola (Calif.) (23-7) vs. #5 Central Methodist (Mo.) (23-9), 10:15 a.m.
#2 Oklahoma City (29-2) vs. #7 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (18-13), 12-noon.
#3 Columbia (Mo.) (26-6) vs. #6 Montana Western (23-8), 5:45 p.m.
Second Round
Friday, March 17
Lindsey Wilson/Martin Methodist winner vs. Biola/Central Methodist winner, 9 a.m.
Columbia/Montana Western winner vs. Oklahoma City/MidAmerica Nazarene winner, 10:45 a.m.
Quarterfinals
Saturday, March 18
Cramer Bracket Championship Game, 2 p.m.
CMU Women's Basketball Contacts: John Kruger / Uyen Tran
Phone: 936-332-9332 | jkrueger@centralmethodist.edu
CMU Athletics: Twitter | Facebook
CMU Women's Basketball: Twitter
Website: www.CMUEagles.com
