RedStorm women draw Red Raiders in NAIA Tournament opener
Rio Grande Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande will tangle with Northwestern (Iowa) in the 2024 NAIA Women's Basketball Championship Opening Round presented by Ballogy.
The 64-team field and complete tournament bracket was released by the NAIA national office on Thursday night.
The RedStorm and the Red Raiders - along with Fisk (Tenn.) University - are part of a four-team pod hosted by No. 4-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University at Luckey Arena in Marion, Ind.
Rio Grande, which was ranked 21st in the final NAIA coaches' poll, are the No. 8 seed in the Cramer Quadrant, while the Red Raiders (18-11) are seeded ninth in the Quadrant.
The host Wildcats (27-4) are the top seed in the Quadrant, while Fisk - which was among the teams receiving votes in the final NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll, is the No. 16 seed.
Indiana Wesleyan and the Bulldogs (20-9) get things started on Friday, March 15, at 12:30 p.m., while the Rio-Northwestern contest is set for a 2:30 p.m. tip.
Friday's winners will meet for the pod championship on Saturday, March 16, at 3 p.m., with that winner advancing to the Round of 16 beginning March 21 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
Rio Grande (26-5) punched its ticket to the national tournament as the River States Conference regular season champion.
Head coach David Smalley's squad also won the RSC Tournament championship by holding off Oakland City University, 95-90, on Tuesday night.
The RedStorm is led by junior guard Kaylee Darnell. The Wheelersburg, Ohio native and First Team All-RSC honoree averages a team-best 18.2 points per game, along with 5.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.9 steals per contest.
Joining Darnell is senior guard - and fellow first-team all-conference selection - Reagan Willingham (Ashville, OH), who averages 15.3 ppg and ranks third nationally with a team-high 99 three-point goals.
Senior forward Aleea Crites (Parkersburg, WV) and junior forward Lexi Woods (Waverly, OH) were Second Team All-Conference picks for Rio. Woods averages 11.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while Crites checks in at 11.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per outing.
Willingham and Crites both surpassed the 1,000-point mark for their careers this season.
The RedStorm also had a Third Team All-RSC pick in junior guard Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH), who averages 5.1 points and 5.6 assists per outing. She ranks eighth nationally in assists.
As a team, Rio Grande - which is making its 11th all-time appearance in the national tourney - leads the nation in both scoring (95.0 ppg) and assists (23.5 apg).
Northwestern, which earned one of 27 at-large selections to the tourney, is making its 20th all-time appearance.
The Red Raiders won their final five regular season contests before falling to Dakota Wesleyan, 80-68, in the quarterfinal round of the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament.
Head coach Kristin Rotert's club is led by First Team All-GPAC honoree Molly Schany. The 6-foot-1 senior forward and three-time first team all-conference pick led the league in rebounds per game (8.4), while finishing second in scoring (17.0 ppg) and field goal percentage (58.4%).
Junior guard Hali Anderson (5-6) averaged 14.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. She also ranked fourth in the conference with a 41.0% three-point percentage.
Freshman forward Emily TerWee (6-0) was an honorable mention all-conference pick after averaging 8.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
Indiana Wesleyan, which is making its 21st all-time appearance, earned its spot in the tourney as the runner-up of the Crossroads League Tournament.
The Wildcats are led by junior guard Lilli Frasure (5-10) and senior forward Jordan Reid (5-10), both of whom were named all-conference first team picks, along with second team all-league honorees Taylor Folkema and Jade Nutley. Reid was also named to the All-League Defensive Team.
Frasure led the Crossroads League in scoring (19.9 ppg), ranked third in assists (133), was fourth in steals (77) and seventh in rebounds with 195, while Reid led the league in steals (83), ranked second on the team with 57 assists and was third-best in scoring (11.4 ppg).
Folkema, a 5-11 redshirt freshman guard, was second on the team in scoring with 11.6 ppg. Nutley, a 6-foot-0 junior forward, averaged 10.7 ppg.
Fisk University, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament runner-up, is making its first-ever national tourney appearance and enjoyed its first season of 20 or more wins since 1986.
The Bulldogs are led by 6-foot-3 senior forward Maya Buckhanon, who was named to the NAIA All-American Second Team last year. She was just named the GCAC Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year.
Buckhanon, who ranks seventh nationally in scoring (22.8 ppg) and second nationally in rebounding (13.9 rpg), was named the GCAC Player of the Week eight times and was voted as the NAIA National Player of the Week twice. She also has a 60-point game to her credit this season.
In addition to Buckhanon, the Fisk lineup features 5-foot-7 senior guard Zipporah Davis (10.6 ppg, 2.7 apg) and 5-10 junior guard Jayla Bibbs (8.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.8 spg).
Complete information on the Marion Bracket can be found at https://iwuwildcats.com/feature/WBB_2024_NAIA_MARIONBRACKET.
Live video of all three games will be available on a pay-per-view basis at https://www.team1sports.com/indianawesleyan/. Cost is $9.99 per game.
Live statistics will also be available at https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/scoreboard.