There will not be a team from the Great Plains Athletic Conference in the NAIA National Women’s Basketball Championship game in Sioux City.
Tuesday’s national championship game will pit the defending national champion against a program who has never appeared in this setting. No. 1 Saint Xavier (Ill.) knocked off No. 1 Concordia (Neb.) in a hot-shooting night for the Cougars as they excelled themselves in a 91-83 win and gave them a spot in the national title game with their first-ever red banner on the line.
The Cougars are making history this season, with both personal player records being set, and now a program milestone being hit. Tuesday night’s appearance in the title game will be a first for Saint Xavier, who is now 34-2 on the season with one game left. The Cougars will meet up with the 2016 national champion, Marian (Ind.), who defeated No. 1 overall St. Francis (Ill.) 64-56 in the first semifinal. The game will tip at 7:04 p.m. Tuesday and will be broadcasted on ESPN3.
At first glance, it looked like Concordia was going to run away into the national championship, as it ended the first quarter up 28-11 over the Cougars. The Bulldogs shut their opponent down in nearly every category in the opening quarter. The second quarter continued to be in Concordia’s favor as they five 3-pointers in the first half. At the break, the Bulldogs owned an eight point lead at 44-36. Saint Xavier used the half to its advantage as they readjusted its game plan after reflecting on what was falling apart.
