The Wayland Baptist Flying Queens will face Southern Oregon in Santa Barbara, Calif., in the First Round of the 42
nd annual NAIA Women's Basketball National Championships.
The Flying Queens (21-10), ranked the equivalent of 35
th in the NAIA, are seeded 10
th in their 16-team quadrant while the Raiders of Southern Oregon (23-7), ranked the equivalent of 28
th, are seeded seventh. The game will take place at 7:30 p.m. (9:30 Central) Tuesday, March 7.
It will be the first-ever meeting between the Flying Queens and Southern Oregon.
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Tournament Bracket
Opening Round Page
Southern Oregon is a member of the Cascade Conference where the Raiders went 18-4. They lost to 10
th-ranked Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) for the third time this season in the conference tournament semifinals, 80-69.
Southern Oregon opened the season by beating No. 4 Carroll (Mont), 51-47. Since then, the Raiders have faced and lost to five Top 25 teams, including another First Round team in Santa Barbara, Westmont (Calif.), 57-40.Â
Southern Oregon averages 65.3 points per game and is led in scoring Kami Walk, a junior forward averaging 14.7 points and 8.0 rebounds, and Brianna Phiakhamngon, a senior guard averaged 12.7 ppg.
The Wayland-Southern Oregon winner will advance to the Second Round on March 8 against a California team, the winner between sixth-ranked, second-seeded Westmont (23-3), the First & Second Round host, or 15
th-seeded Antelope Valley (23-8). Westmont won the national title in 2021.
Wayland and Westmont have faced three times, with Westmont winning all three, most recently when the Flying Queens played in California in 2018. The Queens have never faced Antelope Valley.
This marks the 10th straight year the Flying Queens have qualified for the national tournament and the 30
th overall, one behind Campbellsville (Ky.) for most appearances among teams in the field. Southern Oregon is making its 13
th appearance, Westmont its 18
th and Antelope Valley its fourth.
Wayland won nine straight games before falling to Southwestern Christian (Okla.) in the championship of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament, 70-60.
The Queens were among six SAC teams advancing to nationals, joined by regular-season champion Texas Wesleyan, tournament winner Southwestern Christian making its first appearance, University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma, Mid-America Christian and John Brown.
The champion in Santa Barbara will advance to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa, along with 15 other Second Round winners. The 42
nd annual championship takes place at the Tyson Events Center March 13-18.
The first-round field includes 38 automatic qualifiers and 26 at-large selections. Automatic berths were given to teams that either won their respective conference tournament title, regular-season championship, finished runner-up at the conference tournament, or were the third regular-season finisher. The at-large bids were determined by the Women's Basketball National Selection Committee, which consists of one representative from each geographical area and six at-large members consisting of coaches and administrators from around the country. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria.
All first- and second-round games will be streamed by the host.
NAIA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT QUALIFIERS
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| Team |
Qualification |
Appearances |
Last Qualified |
Titles |
| Antelope Valley (Calif.) |
California Pacific Conference Regular-Season and Tournament Champion |
4 |
2020 |
|
| Brewton-Parker (Ga.) |
At-Large |
5 |
2006 |
|
| Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
15 |
2016 |
|
| Bryan (Tenn.) |
Appalachian Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion |
12 |
2022 |
|
| Campbellsville (Ky.) |
Mid-South Conference Regular-Season Champion |
31 |
2022 |
|
| Carroll (Mont.) |
Frontier Conference Tournament Champion |
14 |
2022 |
|
| Central Methodist (Mo.) |
Heart of America Athletic Conference Regular-Season and Tournament Champion |
11 |
2022 |
|
| Clarke (Iowa) |
Heart of America Athletic Conference Regular-Season Runner-Up |
7 |
2022 |
|
| Columbia (Mo.) |
American Midwest Conference Regular-Season & Tournament Champion |
19 |
2022 |
|
| Concordia (Neb.) |
At-Large |
22 |
2022 |
1 |
| Cumberlands (Ky.) |
At-Large |
17 |
2022 |
|
| Dakota State (S.D.) |
At-Large |
9 |
2022 |
|
| Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
At-Large |
10 |
2022 |
|
| Dordt (Iowa) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion |
4 |
2022 |
|
| Eastern Oregon |
Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion |
14 |
2022 |
|
| Faulkner (Ala.) |
Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
3 |
2018 |
|
| Florida Memorial |
The Sun Conference Tournament Champion |
6 |
2011 |
|
| Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) |
Mid-South Conference Tournament Champion |
26 |
2022 |
|
| Georgetown (Ky.) |
At-Large |
16 |
2022 |
|
| Grace (Ind.) |
At-Large |
1 |
NA |
|
| Grand View (Iowa) |
At-Large |
10 |
2022 |
|
| Haskell (Kan.) |
Continental Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
4 |
2022 |
|
| Hope International (Calif.) |
Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
3 |
2022 |
|
| Indiana Tech |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion |
12 |
2022 |
|
| Indiana Wesleyan |
Crossroads League Regular-Season and Tournament Champion |
20 |
2022 |
2 |
| Iowa Wesleyan |
Continental Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
6 |
2011 |
|
| IU Northwest (Ind.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular-Season and Tournament Champion |
5 |
2019 |
|
| IU South Bend (Ind.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular-Season Runner-Up |
7 |
2022 |
|
| Jamestown (N.D.) |
At-Large |
12 |
2018 |
|
| John Brown (Ark.) |
At-Large |
6 |
2017 |
|
| Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
Cascade Collegiate Conference Regular-Season Champion |
25 |
2022 |
|
| Loyola (La.) |
Southern States Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion |
15 |
2022 |
|
| LSU Shreveport (La.) |
Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
11 |
2021 |
|
| Marian (Ind.) |
Crossroads League Tournament Runner-Up |
10 |
2022 |
2 |
| Mayville State (N.D.) |
North Star Athletic Association Tournament Champion |
4 |
2020 |
|
| Menlo (Calif.) |
At-Large |
10 |
2021 |
|
| Mid-America Christian (Okla.) |
At-Large |
3 |
2022 |
|
| MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
At-Large |
16 |
2022 |
1 |
| Midway (Ky.) |
River States Conference Conference Selection |
2 |
2022 |
|
| Missouri Baptist |
American Midwest Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
2 |
2006 |
|
| Montana Western |
At-Large |
15 |
2022 |
1 |
| Morningside (Iowa) |
At-Large |
22 |
2022 |
4 |
| Northwestern (Iowa) |
At-Large |
19 |
2022 |
5 |
| Oakland City (Ind.) |
At-Large |
1 |
NA |
|
| Philander Smith (Ark.) |
At-Large |
2 |
2020 |
|
| Pikeville (Ky.) |
At-Large |
8 |
2022 |
|
| Point (Ga.) |
Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
1 |
NA |
|
| Rio Grande (Ohio) |
River States Conference Tournament Champion |
10 |
2022 |
|
| Rochester (Mich.) |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
3 |
2022 |
|
| Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
At-Large |
7 |
2022 |
|
| Rust (Miss.) |
Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
3 |
2022 |
|
| Science & Arts (Okla.) |
At-Large |
6 |
2022 |
|
| Siena Heights (Mich.) |
At-Large |
6 |
2020 |
|
| Simpson (Calif.) |
California Pacific Conference Tournament Runner-Up |
1 |
NA |
|
| Southern Oregon |
At-Large |
13 |
2022 |
|
| Southwestern Christian (Okla.) |
Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
1 |
NA |
|
| St. Mary (Kan.) |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournamnet Champion |
1 |
NA |
|
| Sterling (Kan.) |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion |
21 |
2022 |
|
| Texas A&M Texarkana |
Red River Athletic Conference Regular-Season and Tournament Champion |
1 |
NA |
|
| Texas Wesleyan |
Sooner Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion |
4 |
2022 |
|
| Thomas More (Ky.) |
At-Large |
4 |
2022 |
1 |
| Vanguard (Calif.) |
At-Large |
24 |
2021 |
1Â |
| Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
At-Large |
30 |
2022 |
|
| Westmont (Calif.) |
Golden State Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion |
18 |
2022 |
2 |
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